Hi, my name is Alexandra and I am a Consultant at the Roland Berger Zurich office. I started at Roland Berger after finishing my Masters in St. Gallen. Before joining Roland Berger full-time in mid 2017, I had completed a three-months internship at the Zurich office, where I got the offer to join as a Junior Consultant once I finished my studies. Having done an internship before made the coming back easy, because of already knowing what I signed up for.

I have been a part of the Roland Berger Financial Services Competence Centre for 2.5 years. We are, among others, advising financial institutions in the field of central banking, retail banking, corporate banking as well as in the insurance sector. In my opinion, it is quite an exciting and challenging time for the financial services industry right now. Players in the industry are faced by uncertain developments in the markets. This is due to increasing regulatory requirements and pressure,increasing competition due to the entrance of new players, ground-breaking innovations and diminishing margins. Moreover, start-ups are entering the market trying to get a piece of the cake. The rise in the number of FinTech start-ups and their ability to transform and innovate increases the potential for disruption within the industry. Cloud technologies and robotics are increasingly being used to reduce costs and improve quality. In short, digital technologies have become the new norm in the financial world. Therefore, today's players find themselves in the middle of this fast-changing environment, with all the attendant consequences for their business. They must adapt to new technologies, new market entrants and changing customer expectations. They are trying to be proactive and endeavouring to picture how the world might look tomorrow, and we are trying to support them during these challenging times.

During my time at Roland Berger I have had the opportunity to support central banks, universal banks, cantonal banks as well as FinTechs. The projects covered topics from the conceptualization of a MVP for a retail mortgage platform, the conceptualization of the setup of a shared service centre among three banks as well as the definition of the future strategy and vision for a retail bank. My current project, for instance, is based in London and we are supporting a start-up in preparing an investor pitch deck to support their funding process. The possibility to work on diverse projects and get insights into different topics keeps the job varied and the learning curve steep. Through the project based work, you also get to know different people, company cultures and have the possibility to work with various colleagues from different offices and backgrounds. Besides the daily work at Roland Berger I also appreciate the various training opportunities that support you in your professional as well as personal growth.

Besides all of that, what I really enjoyed during my past few years working for Roland Berger is the supportive team culture, which is particularly true for our Zurich office where I highly value the pleasant and familiar working atmosphere. Not to forget, the fun times besides the daily-work such as the Christmas party, the summer event or the 5 o'clock Friday Apéro. If you would like to apply for Roland Berger, I can recommend doing an internship to get to know the people and the Roland Berger consulting lifestyle. Moreover, make use of the chance to participate in company events offered by Roland Berger, such as workshops or case studies to get a glimpse of the work as a consultant and get to know the people.