Anita Balchandani is a Partner of OC&C Strategy Consultants and Sector Head of the UK Retail team.
Anita has worked with consumer and retail businesses across Europe, North America and Asia in shaping and delivering their strategic agenda.
Her key areas of expertise are in building customer-centred businesses –...

At OC&C we look for academic brilliance and a proven track record, so strong grades from a top institution are essential. We are not fussy about what you have studied, our consultants join from a variety of disciplines. Rather, we want you to demonstrate an intellectual liveliness, a desire to talk about new ideas and the capability to bounce them back and forth. Furthermore, we look for a natural curiosity: our consultants are intrigued by new ideas and actively seek innovative solutions to complex problems.
Areas of Focus:

1. Consulting is a team exercise. No single person can solve the multifaceted problems that we come across on a daily basis. So our consultants have to be team players, able to get the best out of the people around them as well as themselves.

2. Problem solving and an analytical mind are essential. From day one you’ll be dealing with problems that need to be broken down into their component parts and analysed strategically from the bottom up.

3. Communicating ideas clearly and concisely is a core consulting skill. Whether you are a new Associate Consultant contributing during a team meeting or an experienced Manager discussing with clients, you need to be able to explain yourself with clarity.

4. Creativity and innovation are highly valued at OC&C, particularly as your career progresses. Being able to remove yourself from the parameters of the question and tackle the problem from a unique perspective distinguishes you from other consultants and thereby OC&C solutions from our competitors’.

Associate Consultant
Join OC&C as a graduate and we’ll make you an Associate Consultant and assign you to a project team straightaway. It will be small – way smaller than the industry average - so you'll have to pull your weight from day one. You could be working in any sector facing any kind of challenge: grappling with growth, advising on a merger or acquisition, developing corporate strategy or planning major organisational change. You'll be working directly with colleagues and clients at all levels, and will be expected to contribute fully: brainstorming, discussing analyses, making recommendations, building relationships Projects tend to be fast, furious and brief, so you'll rapidly gain experience across a wide range of challenges and sectors. Learning the ropes takes time, but progress depends entirely on personal performance. At OC&C, insight and creativity trump tenure - meritocracy isn't just a word; it's how we make our living.

Consultant
OC&C Consultants, typically have a proven two to three year track record at OC&C or another Strategy Consultancy, business school graduates, or recruits from industry with several years' experience. Consultants are well-rounded professionals capable of taking responsibility for, and contributing significantly to, major aspects of projects. Within the OC&C team, you are the Manager's key support – and sometime sparring partner – as well as a confidant and coach for more junior colleagues. As a consultant, you take the initiative to support and guide the team towards workable solutions, and you will need to be adept at recognising and addressing their concerns, as well as building strong, mature and mutually beneficial relationships.

Manager
If you perform well as a Consultant, or are taken on as an experienced hire with the appropriate background and skills set, you will be made a Manager. As such, you will be one the very core of the firm, taking the lead on projects and responsibility for the teams that deliver them. As a day-to-day client-leader, it is arguably your single most important responsibility to develop strong, professional client relations. It is crucial that clients regard you as their trusted adviser and a thought leader in their sector. At the same time, OC&C Partners will be putting their trust in you as a project delivery expert, and will seek your full support in pursuing their commercial goals. Your team members, meanwhile, will view you as their prime source of professional and personal guidance.

Associate Partner
Experienced Managers may become Associate Partners, en route to election as a full Partner. Every Associate Partner is a top consultant, albeit one whose skills will continue to develop. During your tenure, your fields of expertise will become more specialised and clearly defined as you hone your personal profile and core skills. You will work directly with clients at the most senior levels, building close professional – and typically also personal – relationships, addressing their concerns in the broadest sense, capitalising on commercial opportunities. You will also be expected to push content-leadership and play your part in growing our international profile: helping build the firm's base of intellectual property by contributing to high quality internal and external publications. With partnership in prospect, Associate Partners are systematically coached, mentored and trained in specific areas identified as key to their particular strengths and capabilities. The only way is up: we are firmly committed to helping you find your path.

Partner
Associate Partners stand for election to Partner and become one of the 70 or so men and women who own and govern the firm. A Partner is first and foremost a confidant and adviser to our clients. You will develop and maintain relationships built on respect and trust with leaders across the full spectrum of the world's industries and institutions. As an OC&C Partner, you will by definition be an accomplished, all-round consultant and Manager, constantly deploying and developing your expertise through intense dialogue with clients and by being closely involved with your teams' development of solutions. As a co-owner of our firm, you'll also be responsible for contributing fully to its ongoing development and growth; whether in terms of intellectual capital, client networks, people, or capabilities. We regard partnership as just one more stage in an ongoing process of development that will see you continue to improve your skills - as an adviser, coach and entrepreneur.