My name is Imogen Moran, and I’m a Business Analyst at Port Jackson Partners. I have been at PJP for a year now, coming in as a graduate hire.
I grew up in Canberra and at school was always equally interested in physical science and the broader society issues in political science. I decided to pursue science at university doing a research focused Bachelor of Philosophy with Honours at ANU. I loved the research focus and ended up doing a PhD in immunology at the Garvan Institute in Sydney. After I finished my PhD I continued my immunology research as a postdoctoral scientist.
Port Jackson Partners is a management consulting firm that specialises in strategy. We work with CEOs, boards and senior management for businesses across all industries as well as government to work through their most important strategic challenges.
Definitely! There are people at Port Jackson Partners with a range of backgrounds who have studied areas as diverse as finance, commerce, engineering, economics or arts at university.
There is no typical day in my job with what I do on a daily basis varying project to project and within a project. However, as a business analyst some of the tasks I typically do is research on a particular industry or topic, analysis on the performance of a business and preparing material to present to the client. For each project, we work in small teams so each day or week we would typically have team meetings to get feedback from the partners and we are also involved in client meetings and interviews.
I enjoy the opportunity to work on really interesting problems across a broad range of areas. In the year I have been at Port Jackson Partners I have worked on projects across areas such as financial services, retail and the energy industry. One of the things I like most is that every project is different and you will always be learning about a new area and developing your skills to solve a different type of problem. I also really enjoy the friendly, supportive environment of Port Jackson Partners.
There is often a steep learning curve at the beginning of a project as you need to quickly get up to speed on a different industry and the problem you are trying to solve. This is especially the case as the problems we work on are typically difficult which is why we are asked to provide strategic advice. However, while this can be challenging at times it is also what makes it interesting.
To be successful in consulting I think you need to be a naturally curious person who likes learning about a diverse array of areas. I also think you need to enjoy the problem solving nature of the work and be driven to find the best solution to a problem.
Due to the professional service nature of the job, there can be time pressure to complete a particular project with later hours during the week and occasional weekend work. However, this is usually for a short time period and can often be made up in time-in-lieu after a project is finished. I also appreciate that Port Jackson Partners does not have a presentism cultures so if people have finished early you are free and encouraged to go home.
Transitioning from being a scientist to a consultant was definitely a large change. However, I think the supportive environment of Port Jackson Partners has helped make my transition as easy as possible. Everyone is very willing to help out and to teach you what you need to know. The firm has also been very supportive of me choosing to complete courses in finance and accounting to improve my knowledge in these areas.