As a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering, I was looking for a firm where I could work with people that I trust and not be afraid to ask for help. I liked the idea of joining collaborative teams filled with different specialists in order to work together to solve our client’s biggest business problems. I like getting to the answer together instead of by myself. I’ve been at Bain for 13 years now and the work is still exciting to me.
At the beginning of my career, I was thrown into different industries within different regions across the globe and had to learn quickly how to take my learnings and apply them to actual questions our clients were asking us to solve. The learning curve was steep and overwhelming at times, but it was humbling. I had to not only develop the hard skills to do the job but the soft skills as well.
It wasn’t always just about the fancy graphics and logic, it was learning how to communicate with different groups of people and how to motivate the larger teams to push the client forward.
Having worked in so many places around the world, I had to learn about different cultures and ways of working, and it really helped me learn how to build long-lasting relationships.
As I progressed through Bain, I started to lean on my PhD more, focusing specifically on the Chemicals industry. Specializing allowed me to fine-tune my expertise, ultimately leading to external recognition in Korea. I became the first person in consulting to receive official commendation from the Prime Minister.
Looking back, I never would’ve thought I’d use my PhD this way, but I’m proud that I took the step and decided to meet with someone at Bain to learn about consulting. The amount of support I received from colleagues when I first started was immense, and now as a Partner, it’s up to me to pass that forward and lead in a supportive and inspirational way.
