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19 August 2021

At the beginning of July 2021, about 20 Master students from the Business School participated in the 8-hour Consultancy Challenge organised by the Student Development Team.

This challenge involved working with a client to solve a challenge that they were facing. The challenges included different business disciplines such as Marketing and HR.

Prior to the event, we were asked to list our company preferences and then we were assigned to small groups of 3–5 students. Each team consisted of students from various business backgrounds.

Companies participating in the challenge were:

• Tata Consultancy (TCS)
• FIFA
• User Testing
• DoctorCareAnywhere
• Marelli

Structure of the Day

The day started with the companies introducing themselves and their challenge to all participants. Each team then had the chance to gain more insights into their client's challenge in a breakout session.

Once all the information was gathered and the challenge fully understood, we started to brainstorm possible solutions, before finalising our strategy and summarising it in a presentation.

At the end of the day, all participants and companies gathered together to listen as each team presented their ideas back to the company. Clients gave immediate feedback on the proposed solutions and quality of presentations.

After all the teams had presented, the Student Development Team announced the winner of the 8-hour Consultancy Challenge for 2021 and ended the day with some final remarks.

Learning Outcomes

The Consultancy Challenge was a great opportunity to enhance our ability to work in teams of students from various business backgrounds, and to build different viewpoints into our ideas.

In addition, we gained valuable experience in how to tackle client issues, while applying the knowledge we have learned to practice. Responding to the client’s problem improved our ability to understand the real-world issues that businesses are facing, as well as further developing our problem-solving and presentation skills.

We also had a unique opportunity to network with different companies and other students.

What Other Students Say

The 8-hour challenge gave me a chance to look behind the curtain into the working world. It was difficult to choose a challenge as each group’s task were radically different from the other groups and all were super interesting. But it was incredible not only to produce your own solution, but to see how the other groups could band together and provide brilliant ideas, and recommendations to their own challenges.

It was a great experience to combine my analytical skills in identifying customer trends and insights with the marketing concepts gained through the courses. I feel more confident with my ability to create an impact marketing plan.

It was an absolutely amazing experience to be able to engage in such a practical and hands on experience. It was challenging yet extremely creative and fun which made it more exciting. Everyone should participate in an event like this at least once. It gives you a realistic feeling of the actual work experience.

Finally, a big thank you to all companies that participated in the 8-hour Consultancy Challenge and the Student Development Team for organising this highly beneficial event!

Lena is a student on the MSc Marketing and Business Analysis programme