Nanaz Mohtashami, candidate leader/principle, Monitor Group

Nanaz Mohtashami is a candidate leader/principle at Monitor Group. She received a BA and an MEng in engineering from Cambridge University and an MBA from INSEAD.

I joined Monitor in 2000, hoping to get a two to three year apprenticeship in business before moving on and finding a career I would be genuinely passionate about. Nine years later, I’m still here – and I know that consulting is the ideal career for me. The learning curve is constantly steep, and my projects so far could not have been more diverse: I’ve spent nine months in Milan working for an FMCG client, helped launch a consumer product in Japan and helped re-brand the world’s biggest painkiller.

I love the focus on teamwork and being surrounded by bright and inspiring people. I also love the variety – in the content of the projects I work on, the colleagues I work with and the clients I work for. And, although the fast pace can be exhausting at times, I enjoy it.

Career progression

As I progress professionally, I’m enjoying my role of being a thought-partner to my clients and am increasingly involved with the professional development of more junior consultants. The flexibility of consulting has also been a great advantage as my personal life has moved on.

Consulting firms’ cultures can differ quite dramatically

Advice for graduates

Although their work may be similar, consulting firms’ cultures can differ quite dramatically – it’s important to find the right fit. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your colleagues so you want them to be people you ‘click’ with. Don’t just rely on company websites – attend as many presentations as you can and meet the people who work at the firm you’re interested in so you get a sense of its flavour.

Once you know where you want to go, don’t forget to practise for the case study interview – it will pay off! Many firms have good case studies on their websites so you can get familiar with them.