Thomas | Consultant, Oliver Wyman

Can you introduce yourself in a few words and describe your current position and main duties?

Hello, my name is Thomas, and I am half Belgian half Czech although I have been living in France for quite a while now. I joined the International Business and Sustainability master in 2020, right after finishing my MEng. (Master of Engineering) in Design Engineering at Imperial College London.

I am currently working as a strategy consultant within Oliver Wyman’s Paris office. As a junior, I am focused on learning core consulting skills such as problem structuring, analysis and producing deliverables efficiently. For now, I work across industries and capabilities, but I hope to specialise in energy and climate/sustainability in the next year or two. On the side, I am also involved in internal initiatives such as developing a travel carbon footprint calculator that will be launched globally.

What master's degree from the School of Management and Impact did you take and what did it do for your current job?

I decided to join the Master in International Business and Sustainability not only out of sheer curiosity and passion for sustainability but also because I thought it complemented well my engineering profile. This way I now sit at the intersection between technology, business and sustainability is right where I want to be. I hope this will allow me to deliver real-world impact.

Did you have the opportunity to take a sabbatical year? What internship did you complete during your time in the program?

I did not take a sabbatical year because I was quite eager to start my professional life. However, I still managed to do two internships. One over the summer at Schneider Electric within their Access to Energy division. I did both strategy and business development work for rapidly deployable solar solutions, working closely with large organisations like the United Nation. And my final year internship as a sustainability consultant at Deloitte where I worked on many projects like Net Zero strategies, climate risk analysis or a farm data management platform.

On top of that, during my first year, I had a part-time job as a project manager for the European Syndicate of Yeast Producers (Sciences Po will open doors you would not even know existed!). I was also participating in an accelerator programme with my AgTech startup at the time.

What was your favourite course?

One of my favourite courses probably was Doing Business in Emerging Markets. It was taught by three senior staff from the OECD and was essentially a crash course on how to launch a business in an emerging country. It had the perfect balance between learning about international policy frameworks and developing our business sense by asking ourselves very practical business questions. I thought it brought the best of Sciences Po into a business class.

If you had to give one piece of advice to future graduates, what would it be?

Go for it, try and experiment. It is easy to get caught up in tunnel vision where you are focused on getting top grades and the optimum experiences to land your first dream job. Yet I think university is a great place for you to get curious, try new things and fail without much consequences.