To be part of our talented team you need to be a high achiever with clarity of thought, integrity and the ability to get on with people.

You will have an excellent academic record and typically a minimum of three years working experience either in operations or consulting. You should be able to demonstrate how you have successfully made tangible improvements in your career so far. We look for a structured approach to resolving issues and the desire to develop your own capabilities and those of your colleagues.

Challenges drive us and we are obsessed with answering the questions that keep our clients awake at night. Our people are confident but not arrogant, assertive but not aggressive. We look for courage, realism and a desire to roll up your sleeves when something needs doing.

Graduates

We look for graduates with an interest in business operations underpinned by an excellent academic record. If you enjoy solving complex problems through logical thinking, take pride in producing high-quality work and are curious to learn more about how to improve companies’ operations, then we’d love to hear from you. Most importantly, we hire graduates who will contribute positively to our culture.

The majority of our clients are major organizations and market leaders in their particular industry.

On client projects you will be part of a team which, depending on the nature of the project, could be based either at the client’s site or in our offices, and you will sometimes have the opportunity to work from home. You could be leading the project, leading certain streams, or carrying out specific tasks within a stream, and your role is likely to vary project by project as you develop your confidence and capabilities. 

As well as working on client projects, you may also be involved in some internal initiatives, such as helping to develop internal methodologies and training materials and organizing internal events. As you progress in the company, you are likely to take on specific internal areas of responsibility, such as staff management, recruitment, training delivery and proposition development, amongst others. This helps you to develop your general business skills based on what interests you most and allows you to stretch outside your comfort zone and work with colleagues who you may not normally come across in your day-to-day client work. 

When we agree on the members of each project team, we look at both the skills required for the assignment and the development objectives of the individuals. We also aim to ensure that our staff maintains a positive work/life balance, so we take into account an individual’s recent assignments and their impact.

It is vital that we act as a team when with the client, as well as when we work together internally. We work hard to make sure this happens, getting to know each other and keeping in touch day by day.

We have an internal social platform that we use globally, sharing interesting information, project updates and opportunities, but we also spend a lot of time underpinning our internal sense of community by meeting face to face. Examples include monthly team days when we get together and learn more about the business, our clients and our colleagues, and undertake training. And, of course, these occasions allow us to catch-up with our friends who we might not have seen recently.

Argon Challenge

Several internal events are arranged throughout the year to promote our values, team-working and personal development, known collectively as the ‘Argon Challenge’. Events can range from the physical, such as conquering the longest zip line in Europe, white water rafting, mountain climbing or orienteering, to supporting the community, such as refurbishing a shelter for the homeless or working to give a new lease of life to a local school’s outside play facilities. There are also global events organized, encompassing all of our offices worldwide, with recent examples including a global 5km run and a photography competition. 

Academy

We take advantage of our global reach to provide learning opportunities throughout our offices. The Academy is our bi-annual two-day learning event for the company worldwide, dedicated to sharing best practices and bringing our consultants together to discuss our approach on key topics, with a focus on providing clients with the same quality of best-in-class consultancy across the globe. The event covers a mix of sessions including universal themes applicable across all operations, technical workshops on a range of topics, interactive business games and external keynote speakers. The Academy allows us to leverage our global skills and experience and strengthen relationships across the business.

Our consultant development model allows individuals to identify development areas and plot their career paths. It provides a framework that consultants of all levels and experience can use to understand the skills required at each grade.

These skills are detailed in our professional standards and core skills framework. This covers hard skills (such as analytics, process mapping), soft skills (such as presentation skills, impact and influencing people) and technical skills, and everyone is trained in these areas to ensure they have the capabilities to meet our clients’ needs.

We have a first-year training program for all new recruits which includes ‘core consultancy’ and ‘project management skills’. Further training and development needs are identified as part of the appraisal process and are addressed through external training or working alongside experienced colleagues.

As part of our commitment to ensuring we are meeting our consultants’ needs, career development forms a major component of the annual staff survey which measures staff satisfaction across a range of areas.