CEC alumna speaks on the advantages of a career in consulting
Brooke Bollinger ’23, a Biomedical Engineering major, is now a strategy consultant at Deloitte
CEC alumna speaks on the advantages of a career in consulting
Brooke Bollinger ’23, a Biomedical Engineering major, is now a strategy consultant at Deloitte
Brooke Bollinger came to Miami University with an interest in business, entrepreneurship, and engineering. As a biomedical engineering student with a co-major in entrepreneurship, she explored medical and pharmaceutical internships with a business focus, often managing investment funds and collecting customer inputs.
This led her to a career many engineers overlook: consulting.
Although she was unfamiliar with this profession when beginning her college education, by her junior and senior years she began to seriously consider it as a career path. After reflecting on her college experiences, hearing a speaker from Deloitte–one of the largest professional service firms in the country–talk about consulting during Career Fair solidified her decision to pursue the job.
“We had a specific speaker from Deloitte come talk about the consulting opportunities and how it can be a really good fit for engineers, even though it’s not considered a traditional career path,” Bollinger said. “Everything they said was something that sets you up for success in that role was something that I really enjoyed in all of my other experiences, so it seemed to be a good fit.”
Deloitte has a very strong presence at Miami University and their Cincinnati office is specifically involved in recruiting Miami alumni. Because of this, Bollinger’s process of getting hired largely took place on campus, where she had interviews at the Career Center. A few months later she became a strategy consultant for Deloitte.
Within her job she provides expert advice as a third party consultant to aid companies in achieving their goals. In this project-based environment, she works with one client until the engagement is over and then moves to a different client. This, along with research and developmental strategy she has worked on, has been very similar to her engineering experience at Miami.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work in the life sciences industry, so I support clients in the pharmaceutical and medtech industry, which really aligns well with my biomedical engineering background,” Bollinger said.
Not only has this work aligned with her educational experience, but it has also paralleled her passions. One of her favorite projects she worked on at Deloitte concerning health equity met her interests in clinical trial strategy and pharmaceuticals.
“I felt like it really hit both my areas of interest,” she said. “It brings in my critical thinking mindset from my engineering degree, which I really enjoyed, but I felt like it also was very impactful, and that’s something that I really look for in my work, as well.”
This work has not only left a mark on others, but has already begun to have a large impact on Bollinger’s life, as well, due to the amount of opportunities she’s been exposed to.
“My favorite part [about working at Deloitte] is the variety of work that we get to do, because I’ve been in one role at one company in one city, yet [have] had the opportunity to work with so many different clients in slightly different industries on slightly different topics,” she said. “I feel like [it] is such a unique opportunity, especially in an entry-level position.”
Bollinger’s time working in consulting has given her fulfillment, allowing her numerous opportunities to leave a beneficial impact on other people’s lives. Recognizing this, she encourages College of Engineering and Computing students to consider consulting as a career path.
“To be successful in consulting you need strong critical thinking and interpersonal skills,” she said. “So, if that’s something that you are really looking for (you like to work with people, develop client relationships, but also think through big problems on a team), then I would say that it’s definitely a path to pursue alternative to more traditional engineering roles.”
Bollinger’s success within consulting and the satisfaction it has brought her demonstrates the wealth of opportunity and fulfillment the career can provide. For anyone interested in engineering, strategy, or business, this pathway is certainly one worth considering.