Hitting the ground running: fresh hires Thibo and Miguel

We sat down with Thibo and Miguel, two of our most recent additions to the team. They explain why they chose Addestino straight out of university and discuss how diving headfirst into their roles kickstarted their career development.

Sharing a background in computer science from their respective universities in Ghent and Leuven, Thibo and Miguel faced a comparable recruitment journey. “In our field, there are numerous university events and workshops where employers introduce themselves,” Miguel says. “As a recent graduate, sifting through the options can be challenging. Personally, I truly appreciate it when organisations make the effort not just to attend job fairs or events with their sales and HR teams, but also send consultants who hold the role you’re interested in. It’s tremendously helpful to be able to ask candid questions to people who share a similar profile.”

Thibo found his inclination towards consulting early in his studies. “I soon realised it would offer me the chance to tackle a variety of high-level thinking challenges.” Miguel adds: “For people who are still a bit uncertain as to which sector to work in, consulting lets you gain experience fast across various industries.”

Both Thibo and Miguel attended Addestino-hosted workshops in the cities of their alma maters. “Some of the competing consulting firms focus heavily on interviews and weed through candidates based on skill sets and degrees. The Addestino event felt different, however, with an emphasis on personalised matchmaking,” Thibo reflects. “This people-centric approach was carried over throughout the recruitment process. We were explicitly told not to overprepare for our interviews. The leadership team wasn’t solely interested in testing my academic knowledge, but they kept probing to see if I’d fit well with the team and if I could think on our feet and make smart decisions in hypothetical business cases. They emphasised that it wasn’t just about our immediate contributions as consultants, which demonstrated their commitment to the long-term picture and career development instead.”

Thibo and Miguel joined in the same month. “We’d been warned that we’d be thrown in at the deep end straight away, and they were absolutely right!” Miguel smiles. “We were both introduced to our initial projects on our first afternoon. Currently, I’m working on a short two-month assignment for a payroll provider, assisting them with a digital tooling project. It’s fantastic to be able to completely immerse myself in a new business context within a new sector. It reaffirms my choice to enter consulting. Every time, there are new things to take on board and lessons to put into practice across different industries.”

Thibo has to be more discreet about his ongoing work project. “At the moment, I’m involved in a confidential project, collaborating with some of my more senior colleagues. At the very least, it demonstrates Addestino’s matchmaking and the trust they place in new hires by embedding them in confidential projects alongside more experienced team members.”

Events are a key part of our Addestino onboarding and continuous development process. They aren’t limited to just educational sessions, but also include team-building activities. Thibo explains: “Only last week, we attended an after-work cooking workshop in Ghent. These kinds of fun gatherings are great for breaking the ice with colleagues we might not have met before. We all tend to do hybrid work, dividing our time between the clients’ and our own offices in Zele and Leuven, with occasional work-from-home days. Occasions where the entire team comes together are few and far between. While our backgrounds can vary and our hobbies may differ, we all share a common passion for technology and how it intersects with business.”

Another consistent feature of the Addestino programme is our so-called DNA training, which is conducted periodically for new hires. “This training is designed to introduce some of our signature methodologies,” Miguel elaborates. “It showcases what sets us apart from other consulting organisations, both from an employee and a client perspective. In just a few hours, the senior leadership runs us through our methods and compares them to traditional consulting approaches. They include our classic concepts, like set-based thinking, and our map of the world approach that we frequently use during our trademark deep-dives in business decision-making tracks. All of these methods are tailored to manage risks and come up with the derisked, actionable solutions that organisations look for when they hire us.”

When asked about how Addestino aligned with their initial expectations, Thibo is clear: “The cultural fit was exactly what I had envisioned, and the team had set the right expectations. In terms of our assignments, I’m truly impressed by the level of challenge and responsibility that even junior roles come with.” Miguel chimes in: “The good news is that we’re never on our own. While there is plenty of room for independent work, there are always other team members to fall back on. We also have a mentorship program to address any concerns that are not directly related to the current client assignment. Additionally, our monthly reviews with HR help us gauge where we’re headed for the future. This combination is priceless – I really feel like my career path and personal development matter in equal measure.”