What's your job about?
Nous Group is an international management consultancy that works with governments and other organisations and communities to solve their biggest challenges and deliver lasting, positive change.
I am a consultant working across Nous’ strategy and organisational performance practices. This means my work is mostly targeted at helping organisations to focus on what matters to them most and helping them to get the best value from their people, systems and processes.
I generally work in a team with three others: a Project Director, a Project Manager and a Project Assistant. Together, we design and implement recommendations in various contexts and sectors. Recent examples include:
As a consultant, I often do the groundwork to inform the development of our recommendations and solutions. This can include undertaking desktop research, conducting interviews and analysing large sets of quantitative data. No project or week of work is ever the same – there is plenty of variety, opportunities to be challenged and avenues for my own creativity!
What's your background?
When meeting people for the first time, I’m quick to tell them I’m from a small rural farming town, two hours west of Brisbane. I competed all my schooling in my local area and moved to Brisbane to begin university. I didn’t know what I was going to do with a business degree but figured it would give me a broad skillset and connect me with like-minded, ambitious individuals.
Turns out, it was great for doing just that! Connecting with a group of passionate academics and high-achieving business students through international business case competitions was a pivotal point in my university journey. I had the opportunity to meet students from the top business schools globally, solve real challenges for some of the biggest companies in the world and travel internationally representing QUT. This was where I learnt what consulting was and realised that the fast-paced, ever-changing and interesting project work was going to be for me.
I applied for Nous in February of my final, honours year at university. I had missed the deadline for applying the year prior so added honours to my degree to buy myself another year. I used my honours year to research selective service withdrawal in regional areas and the response of displaced employees. Through this work, I realised my passion for regional development and workforce planning. I’ve since been able to apply that research and my passion through the projects I have worked on at Nous.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes! Consulting is for anyone who loves to learn new and diverse things, work at a pace in an evolving environment, and collaborate as part of a broader team. To be a great consultant, it is important to communicate effectively, problem solve and manage your time. It is a bonus to bring prior work experience applying what you have learnt in university. This helps to really understand the experience or needs of a client and design recommendations that are practical and realistic.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
Consulting has given me the opportunity to work on diverse and interesting projects that I would have never imagined for myself. This has meant I have not only gained a broad understanding of sectors and businesses, but I have discovered many other things that I am passionate about that I did not know about before beginning as a consultant.
I also love the flexibility of self-management as a consultant at Nous. It is up to me to manage my workload across multiple projects to ensure I am meeting team and client expectations. I can shape my own work-life boundaries!
What was it like joining during COVID-19?
Being Brisbane-based has meant that COVID disruptions have been less significant for me, and I have come to love the hybrid balance of working from home and the office. COVID has created a new and interesting element to delivering projects. It has highlighted the opportunity for us to bring the very best of Nous to a project, irrespective of location! COVID has taught me that we can connect and collaborate no matter where we physically are! I have had really positive experiences working with teams across Australia and the world.
What’s it like working with senior people on projects?
My project work has given me plenty of opportunities to work with high-calibre senior people here. Nous Principals and Directors are very approachable and grounded. There is no feeling of hierarchy and my Project Directors have been very involved in the development of recommendations and solutions. They help to do the hard thinking with the team and bring a broader understanding of the client context and needs. I have worked side-by-side with highly experienced Nous Principals who have mentored and coached me on a personal and professional level.
What are the limitations of your job?
Being a consultant can be demanding – you often must respond to last-minute client demands or quickly action feedback from Project Directors and Managers. It requires you to be adaptable and resilient to change.
Consulting is a fast-paced and competitive environment. You don’t necessarily have to work the most hours to be the best consultant, but you do have to work efficiently so that you can demonstrate value for the client.
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