Tess, one of our Admissions Coordinators here at Beacon, chronicles her experience participating in our December 2019 Beacon Fellowship at client Airbus under a Project Lead who consulted with McKinsey for several years.

Learning from a McKinsey alum in the heart of Spain

I didn’t know what to expect when I landed in the Madrid-Barajas airport, and would definitely be surprised by what unfolded in the next 10 days. It was easily one of the busiest and most challenging 10 days I have experienced; and also one of the most rewarding.

Maybe I should begin a little farther back…

Working as an Admissions Coordinator for Beacon, I have spoken to hundreds of young business students all interested in what Beacon could do for them. I learned to answer their questions and help them understand what they should expect from the Fellowship.

This was why I was so surprised when I myself got to Madrid and had so many questions about the upcoming days! There was so much ahead of me that was unknown. What would our project lead be like? How would the client interact with us (the fellows)? What will we be researching for this company?

The nice thing was that all of the Fellows were feeling the same way! I got settled into the apartment and introduced myself to my three roommates. These girls came from different backgrounds (one in material engineering, one in marketing and finance, and one in psychology) and from all over the US. We sat around our dining room table talking about what this next week would be like and they had many of the same questions going through their heads. It’s safe to say we were all happy with how the next few days played out.

The first day at the client site was exciting and nerve wracking. Airbus is an international corporation filled with aerospace engineers and experts in cutting edge technology. The office space was bustling with different meetings and conversations that seemed very important. And there we were — 16 students from the US, most of us with very little experience in strategic consulting up until now. Everyone gathered in the main conference room and we listened to the Airbus representatives present their problem. I was furiously taking notes, making sure not to miss a thing. Our project lead, Viet, divided us into four small groups. We were assigned different work spaces in the office and got right to work. My team was waist deep in research before we knew it. I had no idea my computer could even have this many tabs open at once! The afternoon flew by and suddenly it was 5 pm. The work day was over and we had barely scratched the surface!

The days were packed with things to do at the office and when we left the work we had Madrid at our fingertips! I had never been to Spain so I didn’t know where to go first. The group was super friendly right away and we all stuck together to find the best places to eat and the most important things to see! I loved getting to know all of the people in my cohort. By the third day I felt like we had all known each other for months!

At the end of each day, Viet had all of the teams send him an email outlining what progress we had made and what we had learned. He told us how important it was for consultants to be able to reflect on what they had learned from each day so they could apply that lesson to their work the next day. This habit proved to be really helpful as the week went on. As a team we were able to look back on the day and discuss what we had learned and how it had helped us with the project work. I think that this is an important skill to have no matter what you do, it makes each day’s work more intentional and rewarding.

I was continually impressed by my peers during the project. There were so many different approaches and perspectives coming together to arrive at the final presentation! It was so cool to see how the dynamic of the group allowed everyone’s strengths to be highlighted and put to use. When it was time for our presentation, we were all super excited to showcase all of our findings to the client. I was impressed by how well all of the teams explained the research and delivered the recommendation to the Airbus representatives! The client asked a number of questions and we felt confident to answer them all and engage in a conversation about the next steps for Airbus. This was such a rewarding and encouraging way to wrap up the Beacon experience. It showed how important all of the research we had worked so hard on really was. I think that one of the best feelings was getting to share our findings with Airbus and receive their feedback and thanks for all our hard work!

I never thought it would be possible to accomplish so much in 10 days, but I was proven wrong! It was an incredible chance to work with exceptional students from all over the US and learn from an expert consultant. Beacon has definitely changed the way I work; I’ll never forget the things I learned during my 10 days in Madrid!

Learning from a McKinsey alum in the heart of Spain