Alumni - David Wang

Day in the life of consultant

Introduction

Hello, my name is Isabel and I joined Bain over 3 years ago in the Sydney office. I studied Commerce (Economics/Finance) at the University of Sydney. Since joining, I have spent 4 months in Bain’s Dubai office and am now transferring to the London office.

Why did you become a Management Consultant?

Throughout university, I interned at a few firms including accounting, marketing and investment banking and after those internships I realised what I want and didn’t want from a job but didn’t know what that career would entail. Management consulting seemed like the perfect fit for graduates that were ambitious, hardworking and wanted to work in a collaborative team culture however didn’t exactly know what career they wanted to pursue.

What do you do as a Management Consultant?

We help clients answer key strategic questions about challenges they are facing in their organization and that can range from strategy (e.g., how do we increase market share or expand into a new market?), full transformations (e.g., what are the list of initiatives a firm needs to address to increase revenue and reduce cost while staying efficient? What is the process of implementing these initiatives?) or operating model (e.g., how should a company’s organisation structure look like? What accountabilities are associated with each role?) At my time at Bain, I’ve had various opportunities across different industries and capabilities. Some of my project experience includes demerger strategy of a wealth management company, a private hospital transformation, the organisation restructure of one of a financial service firm and the launch of a new venture for a retailer. What else do you love about consulting?

1. Diversity of the work: we have such a steep learning curve at Bain because the work always changes whether that’s the industry (healthcare, financial service, retail) or capability (strategy, transformation, operating model) 2. The best people: People at Bain are invested in you, your learning and your development.

Working with inspiring people in a collaborative environment has been my favourite aspect of the job. 3. Ownership from day 1: You will be embedded in the team with a clear role, ownership and deliverables from the start which will set you up for success

How do you think management consulting prepares you for your future career?

Taking a role in consulting is like making a decision without actually making one because of the immense exposure and skillset you get, which will set you up for the rest of your career. Your time at Bain will embed the skills of being comfortable with ambiguity and the ability to solve, structure and crack problems. Some people end up staying till Partner, others move into private equity, start-ups, corporates etc. Basically the options are endless!

What are some of the opportunities you get at Bain?

One of the main reasons I joined Bain was to have an international and challenging career within a supportive culture—and it has definitely delivered! In my first year, I had the opportunity to work across 4 industries in Sydney & Melbourne and attend a twoweek global training in the US. In my second year, I went on a 4 month transfer to the UAE where I was exposed to the work culture in a developing market and learnt a lot of what the Middle East had to offer. Then I seconded at a start-up for 6 months then came back to Bain…& now I am transferring to the Bain London office.

What do you do? What are the duties, functions, and responsibilities that you are involved in as a part of your role?

I am an associate in the Consumer and Industrial Products and Services (CIPS) segment of the Assurance business. My primary role involves performing testing procedures towards the risks identified in the external audit of our clients to ensure reasonable assurance that their financial statements aren’t materially misstated.

As technical as that sounds, a typical day for me involves most of the time spent in interacting with our clients to understand their business processes in detail. As an auditor, this allows me to understand the controls in place and scope areas of risk in lieu of fraud or error, and design substantive testing around them.

Can you tell us a little bit about PwC’s work culture and the environment? What sets it apart?

The biggest seller at the time of applying for PwC personally, was its work culture and people. I first joined as a vacationer without any background in audit or accounting and felt a bit out of depth as a result. But PwC’s work culture made my transition from university to work-life seamless.

I found my colleagues extremely supportive with people going out of their way to assist my growth and learning process. Over a year in now, I’m able to confidently say that PwC is all about its people. I have constantly felt a sense of belonging to the organization and it comes from the culture of care and working together that I’ve experienced working alongside individuals from varied cultural and academic background.

The focus on well-being and a work-life balance is something I truly appreciate at the firm. Despite having long working days during busy periods, employees are encouraged to take time off to recharge and supported via benefits and perks to take on activities that allow them to prioritize their mental and physical fitness.

How did you get started in this field? How well did your work relate to the experiences or studies you had in university?

Honestly, I never imagined ending up in Audit. Through university, I didn’t take a single accounting 46

Associate, Assurance PWC

course and majored in Finance and Business Law. When I applied for the vacationer role, it was more driven by working at PwC than the role, itself.

However, the training and development opportunities at PwC combined with the on-the-job coaching helped me develop the necessary skillset quite swiftly.

I have also been given the opportunity to give my CA exams simultaneously, with masterclasses towards the same being provided by the organization. Even though my degree in Finance gave me the foundation for the job eg. evaluating a company’s performance based on the financial statements, if I were to do it over again, I would’ve taken a few accounting courses to improve my technical skills in the area.

Do you have any advice for someone applying for your company? Or more specifically, the role you're involved in?

PwC employs people from various backgrounds, for example, 60% of my fellow graduate joiners were from non-accounting or non-business backgrounds. They are looking for driven individuals with focus on learning with potential to create value.

My advice to anyone looking to apply to Assurance at PwC is to focus on our five values. In a world where data and technological advancement allows for efficient solutions, the company is looking for individuals who would invest time in improving their digital fitness to help solve our clients’ problems and build trust in the community.

Be involved in university as it is reflective of your capacity of working together, taking initiative, and driving change. Invest your time in opportunities or competitions at university that allow you to be innovative and apply your understanding from the courses you study.

And finally, make real connection with people you meet. As cliché as it sounds, it is easy to interact with individuals at networking events with an agenda to advance your career. But PwC is all about building relationships, whether it is with your colleagues or clients. A big part of the job is talking to people and the time you spend at university allows for numerous opportunities to improve your interpersonal and soft skills. So that would be your best starting point!

What do you do? What are the duties, functions and What do you do? What are the duties, functions and responsibilities that you are involved in as a part of responsibilities that you are involved in as a part of your role? your role?

I'm an Associate Director in the PwC Deals Team. I'm an Associate Director in the PwC Deals Team. Within Deals, I mainly work across the Transaction Within Deals, I mainly work across the Transaction Services and Data Analytics streams, which means Services and Data Analytics streams, which means most of the time I assist my clients (either Private most of the time I assist my clients (either Private Equity or large Corporates) with a buyside or sellside Equity or large Corporates) with a buyside or sellside engagement (buying or selling companies). I engagement (buying or selling companies). I typically lead a team between 2-4 people in typically lead a team between 2-4 people in conducting financial/commercial due diligence conducting financial/commercial due diligence work and this involves data crunching and asking work and this involves data crunching and asking management detailed questions which ultimately management detailed questions which ultimately translates into a report for our client. Buysides tend translates into a report for our client. Buysides tend to be more common; we advise clients of key to be more common; we advise clients of key financial issues so they can better assess their financial issues so they can better assess their investment thesis and what is right price for them to investment thesis and what is right price for them to pay for the target company. pay for the target company.

Can you tell us a little about PwC’s work culture and Can you tell us a little about PwC’s work culture and the environment? What sets it apart? the environment? What sets it apart?

I'd like to describe the culture at PwC as being I'd like to describe the culture at PwC as being vibrant and innovative. In terms of what's sets it vibrant and innovative. In terms of what's sets it apart, it's all the little things they've done as market apart, it's all the little things they've done as market pioneers that has made it attractive: having had a pioneers that has made it attractive: having had a flexible dress code since 2016 (yes, people do rock flexible dress code since 2016 (yes, people do rock up in t-shirts and sneakers), iconic social events up in t-shirts and sneakers), iconic social events (some of which have been the largest seen in (some of which have been the largest seen in Sydney such as Melb Cup and Xmas) and being Sydney such as Melb Cup and Xmas) and being ahead of the pack with digital transformation and ahead of the pack with digital transformation and their applications in our day-to-day work. their applications in our day-to-day work.

How did you get started in this field? How well did How did you get started in this field? How well did your work relate to the experiences or studies you your work relate to the experiences or studies you had in university?? had in university??

I took up a summer vacationer role and was I took up a summer vacationer role and was captivated by some of the work and decided to captivated by some of the work and decided to return eventually. Whilst not entirely correlated, a lot return eventually. Whilst not entirely correlated, a lot of my studies and experiences at uni gave me the of my studies and experiences at uni gave me the skills/confidence in problem solving and I learnt skills/confidence in problem solving and I learnt how to be a professional. I definitely think my how to be a professional. I definitely think my experience in leadership roles (shout out to BSOC) experience in leadership roles (shout out to BSOC) translated substantially into being able to lead translated substantially into being able to lead varying project teams and be a better a coach on varying project teams and be a better a coach on the job. the job.

David Wang Associate Director Associate Director PwC PwC

Do you have any advice for someone applying for Do you have any advice for someone applying for your company? Or more specifically, the field your company? Or more specifically, the field you’re involved in? you’re involved in?

If you intend to work in the M&A field, I encourage If you intend to work in the M&A field, I encourage you to become truly passionate and read business you to become truly passionate and read business news daily (start with the AFR ), search up on recent news daily (start with the AFR ), search up on recent iconic deals and demonstrate that you have a iconic deals and demonstrate that you have a grasp of what is happening in the market. If you're grasp of what is happening in the market. If you're interested in Data Analytics, I highly recommend interested in Data Analytics, I highly recommend taking some online courses out there as there are taking some online courses out there as there are plenty of avenues to upskill yourself in ETL. Technical plenty of avenues to upskill yourself in ETL. Technical skills are very important but also being able to skills are very important but also being able to articulate messages and trends concisely is also articulate messages and trends concisely is also crucial! crucial!

What do you find to be the most interesting or What do you find to be the most interesting or challenging part of your work? challenging part of your work?

No two deals are ever the same! Clients often need No two deals are ever the same! Clients often need varying degrees of support and as much as I've varying degrees of support and as much as I've done a lot of deals in the same industry and space, done a lot of deals in the same industry and space, each one provides unique challenges and varying each one provides unique challenges and varying problem solving approaches. The Data Analytics problem solving approaches. The Data Analytics work that I do is definitely exciting and I work with work that I do is definitely exciting and I work with interesting datasets such as the sales transaction interesting datasets such as the sales transaction data of an online retailer. This paves the path for data of an online retailer. This paves the path for exciting analysis where I can slice and dice the exciting analysis where I can slice and dice the data in various ways. It's always particularly data in various ways. It's always particularly interesting when I uncover a trend that unlocks interesting when I uncover a trend that unlocks what would otherwise be hidden transaction value what would otherwise be hidden transaction value for my clients! for my clients!