Changing career tracks with Giuseppe

After joining Addestino as a fresh graduate, Giuseppe immersed himself in the consulting world. We’re catching up with Giuseppe to see how his career has unfolded – and how he made the switch from our Addestino Expert Track to Consultant Track.  A tale of personal growth and flexibility.

“When I became part of Addestino, the team was expanding quite extensively,” Giuseppe explains. “The clear distinction between the consultant track and expert track hadn’t been put into writing yet, although the spirit and foundation of flexibility for us consultants was always there from the beginning. Initially, I signed up for what is now the expert track, given my highly technical background. However, I was safe in the knowledge that there would always be an option of getting more involved on the business side of things. This level of flexibility is usually simply not an option at most other consulting firms, where hiring decisions are made exclusively based on specific roles or profiles.”

Reflecting on his early days working in a technical role, Giuseppe recalls how his mindset started to change: “A few months into my assignment as an app developer, I realised that full-time coding wasn’t entirely my cup of tea. I kept seeing code as a means to tackle business problems and wanting to find out more about the bigger picture of my role. This got me thinking, and the seed had been planted to grow into a broader role as a business analyst.

Together with the management team, we decided to take action, fast-tracking me to a data analyst and data scientist role to increase the focus on my analytical skills. This was a hybrid position where I could blend my technical know-how with a broader business perspective for the client. After this two-month interim project, I transitioned into a fully-fledged expert services role at a major telecom company, aligning more closely with the business analysis that I wanted to pursue. It was there that I felt my full potential was unlocked: at the cutting edge between business and technology.”

Transitioning into an analyst role came with a range of other learning experiences. “Whenever I felt a bit out of my depth after such a radical change, my senior colleagues were always there to give me helpful pointers,” Giuseppe says. “As part of our close-knit team, everyone in the workplace knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses. My shift towards an analyst role not only led me to improve my personal skills, but also taught me how to navigate the complexities of enterprise organisations. My colleagues shared valuable advice and reading recommendations, guiding me to manage different clients and individual personalities for more efficient results.”

In addition to this personalised training component, there’s a set of company-wide training sessions covering both methodologies and new evolutions in relevant fields. Giuseppe clarifies: “This is especially beneficial for knowledge exchange among our consultants specialising in the technical, business and strategy pillars of our Addestino career compass, respectively. We’re also encouraged to organise relevant training sessions in their area of expertise for cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing. As a result, I’ve also evolved in my role as a trainer and coach.”

“Eventually, I decided to make the formal switch from our expert services track to the generalist consulting track,” Giuseppe adds. “While working on a side project, I got a taste of the broader, generalist consulting field and its strategy component. This sparked a new interest in me, which I wasn’t aware of before. This turned out to be the decisive factor in switching formally from our expert services track to the generalist consulting track. Once again, the Addestino management team showcased its flexibility by allowing me to make the switch within weeks after I first expressed my desire for a change. At other organisations, my growth curve as a technical expert would have been limited, and I would have eventually faced a decision to explore other options, such as joining a different team, applying for an internal vacancy or looking elsewhere.”

Giuseppe believes that Addestino supports his fundamental drive to learn as much as possible. “I see the company as a catalyst for personal growth,” he says. “Wherever your path as a consultant might take you later on in your career, Addestino empowers you to make it happen. Everyone embraces the consultant-first thinking that we pride ourselves on – ensuring that each person here is happy with their assignment, personal roadmap and future plans.

It helps that I always find myself surrounded by individuals from diverse backgrounds, each with valuable experience. Everyone is always eager to sit together to brainstorm about ongoing assignments. These high-intensity, high-quality interactions make sure that everyone here learns fast. Personally, I’ve also noticed how I’ve grown into my consulting role as a trusted advisor who can advocate for actionable change for clients – more than I could have imagined if I had started in a junior role at a large corporation directly.”