I remember a proposal pitch 15 years ago, as we were trying to entangle the various drivers of value creation in a long term gas purchase and supply agreement. We were finally selected not because of our knowledge, but because of our creativity. I remember the client telling us, with a sense of humor, that it might even be helpful that we knew nothing about the gas industry!

In a more demanding market, such a win would be less likely today, as we need to bring both industry relevance and innovative approaches. Unlike some of our competitors, we still like to staff most projects with at least one "young talent" who does not know the industry at all—and partners are consistently impressed by the impact of such an approach.

Marc joined BCG in 1993 and has been a vice president since 2001.

He graduated from ESSEC in 1989 (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, France), and worked for three years as an M&A analyst prior to joining BCG.

Clients don’t come to BCG for ready-made solutions.  Questions we have to deal with would rarely be trivial, or ones described in your average management textbook.

The same goes for the answers.  If professionals, who lead the industry’s largest corporations, seek the advice of consultants it means that the problem at hand requires some truly rigorous analysis and a non-standard approach.  For a consultant this is always a great opportunity, and an even greater responsibility. At the end of the day, when you look back on your experience, you come realize that the search for new solutions and non-standard approaches has become something that you do every day, because it’s your job. A dream job, in fact.

Artem joined BCG in February, 2007.

He holds a PhD in strategic management and a Diploma in finance & Ccredit from The Finance Academy under the Government of Russia. Before joining BCG Artem had three years of experience as analyst and than lead analyst in Russian oil company Surgutneftegaz, where he was focused ondownstream, airline and helicopter business units.

Before Surgutneftegaz Artem working at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young as auditor.

The reason I came to BCG and the reason I continue to truly enjoy my job is the variety and breadth of the things I get to do every day. In my nearly four years at BCG, I've worked with nearly 20 different clients, each with its own issues and key questions to answer.

Although keeping the details about bathtubs and the copper industry organized is harder than it looks, it is this diverse set of experiences that keeps the job fresh and ever-challenging for me. It is inherently rewarding to be able to take a new industry and a new problem, and a short while later provide advice to clients to help solve some of their toughest problems.

I continue to be impressed at how much I learn every day from my project teams. From the experiences of our most senior partners to the immense raw talent of our youngest associates, hardly a day goes by when I don't learn something applicable to our project or to life in general.

Franklin joined BCG as a member of the Operations practice.

His experience has included supporting industrial goods and consumer products clients.

Franklin earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management and his bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, from Williams College.