My international education began early—at the age of 17, I moved to Italy and received my international baccalaureate from the United World College of the Adriatic. After that, I pursued classical studies at Oxford University, followed by a PhD in ancient history at LMU Munich.
Given my background, I have few internships to display, as I instead spent a lot of time exploring sites of the ancient world, from Italy and Greece to Syria and Uzbekistan.
I joined BCG's Frankfurt office in 1998 and have been there ever since—taking a leave of absence only to complete my MBA at INSEAD in 2001. My consulting work has focused on the financial services sector, specifically risk management and wholesale banking. I have worked on projects with many of Germany's leading banks, and I also supported the establishment of BCG's new office in Athens, where our first client was a large Greek bank.
Since I have a doctorate in history, I'm often asked why I decided to go into consulting. To be honest, I don't find my decision so strange. What I always liked about academia was the possibility of studying a topic thoroughly and understanding it inside and out. Consulting allows me to continue living this passion: at BCG, we always first consider the topic at hand from every angle, and only after we have a full and complete understanding of the situation do we recommend a solution.
Expectations in this regard are higher here than at other consulting firms, and I get a lot of satisfaction from this way of working. I even see a big advantage over academia. In business, I can influence important current issues more quickly and directly and really make a difference in the long term.
But how do you start this new role? With the many complex topics that BCG handles, you receive intense on-the-job training every day. Non-business majors like me, with little or no previous business experience, receive tailored, in-house training and coaching support for their projects. And, as I did, those who want to broaden their academic basis can pursue an MBA—sponsored by BCG—if their job performance is good.