Inspiring Grads: Engineering 3

Suzanne Lambert

Job history

2022–Present Business Analyst Partners in Performance

2020–2022 Engineering Consultant NES Consult

Academic history

2018–2019 Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering University of Cape Town

2013–2017 BSc in Civil Engineering University of Cape Town

Describe your job – what do you do?

I’ve just begun a new job at Partners in Performance. PIP is a management consultancy that hires diverse, pragmatic and out-the-box thinkers. It partners with a variety of different industries to solve complex operational challenges. Focusing on implementation, they have a handson approach to drive lasting change. It’s my job to aid organisations and their employees to diagnose their operational issues, find and implement the best avenues for performance improvement, and ultimately help them gear themselves toward continuous improvement.

How did you make the transition from your previous job?

What got me up in the morning at my previous post was meeting new clients, and problem-solving and brainstorming possible solutions with them. The shift from engineering to management consulting meant I could do this on a larger scale for a wider scope of industries. Another pull to my new job was the supportive culture at PIP where I could receive mentoring and coaching to achieve my full potential.

How have your degrees helped you to get where you are?

My undergraduate engineering degree was integral in teaching me how to think and how to work in partnership with my peers. Additionally, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to delve into interesting research for my master’s research project, and undertaking the lab work taught me how to deal with complex and unforeseen problems and how to make informed decisions based on incomplete information. I utilise the soft skills learnt from both my degrees daily, but the tangible degree behind my name has also unlocked many career opportunities for me.

What has been a highlight of your career so far?

A highlight has been problem-solving and brainstorming in group settings, either with clients or colleagues. In these interactions, I have learnt and gained invaluable insight from listening and working with others.

What advice would you give to current engineering students?

Imagine a graph, skill on the x-axis and willingness on the y-axis. Ultimately, you want to be in the upper right corner of the graph. However, you will definitely start your career unskilled, and it is difficult to work with someone who is both unskilled and unwilling. So, my advice would be to strive to be willing, and the skills will follow.

What is the next thing you want to achieve or learn?

I’m excited to get exposure to a wide range of industries and grow my skills as a management consultant.

What stands out to you from your cycle tour across Africa?

In 2019, I cycled from Uganda to Cape Town unassisted. Among many other lessons, this experience taught me that constant communication makes for a good team. There were four of us on our cycle and every afternoon before it got dark, we had to make sure we had food, water and a place to sleep.

To get all of this done we had to split up the work, and it often meant separating without signal. Before splitting up we had to rigorously make sure we were all on the same page. I once waited an hour on the wrong route thinking I was ahead of the team because I failed to communicate my plan clearly. I ended up narrowly missing our Malawian border crossing and spending a lonely night by myself. This can be an allegory to the real working world, communicate with your team so you don’t find yourself lost and travelling down the wrong route.

COURSE recommendation

https://www.craftingcases.com/ It’s a course for management consulting interviews, but it gives an essential toolkit for structuring your thoughts and solving any problem systematically.