Tomorrow is my first day at work, and oddly I am not restless. Throughout the selection process, I felt comfortable with all the partners that interviewed me and they made me feel confident and secure. That makes me go to bed excited and eager to hear the sound of the alarm go off.
The day dawns and after breakfast I am on my way to Improva’s offices. The truth is that I feel at home from the very start. I am greeted by the Director of the office in Barcelona, whom I already met in the selection process, and within hours I am ready to take action: computer, business cards ... I spend the rest of the day with another partner, which with great care and in a very didactic way he explains every single detail of what will be my first professional challenge as a consultant. I am surprised at how they have defined all the work processes, what methodologies to follow, etc ... I end the day just relying on the professionalism and sympathy of those who will be my new managers.
The next day I am summoned without hesitation to the kick-off meeting with the customer. I am introduced to one of the members of IKN (Improva Knowledge Network), a Senior Advisor with a résumé that is out of this league. Far from all this, I’m once again surprised by the closeness with which he treats me and all this makes me really feel part of the team.
The customer is an important mobility and transport operator in the city of Barcelona. It is an ambitious project and with a great impact on an income statement level, but it seems that we will start after summer, since the summer holidays interfere with the project calendar and we don´t want to lose continuity.
What at first seems a disappointment, soon becomes an opportunity: I am asked to do my first accompanying research. I will be assisting a team that is completing an Analysis, and after the training, the next day I am on the field ready to carry out this type of research.
It’s Friday, and we are at the Improva offices with the Project Director who I came to assist. Both of us are standing up and facing a huge poster reflecting on the conclusions that I have obtained from the accompanying research. I enjoy the discussion, his experience, and inevitably I feel transported back to teamwork during my MBA course at the IESE. It seems incredible that in one week I feel so integrated in the company ... I’ve done a good job, and the Director congratulates me for it. I appreciate this gesture on his part, I end the week full of hopes for the future and eager to move forward.
Jordi Caner