'The Main Thing Here Is a Mindset'
The company 'Business Solutions and Technologies' (BST)—one of the largest consulting and auditing companies in Russia—has become a strategic partner of the Master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'. Timur Tursunov, Director of the BST Management Consulting Office, explains what management consulting is, what competencies are required to become a BST employee and why consulting companies are interested in cooperating with the programmes on social sciences.
— Timur, how did you become an employee of the consulting company?
— Right after the university, I started to apply to the 'Big Four'. As I graduated from a finance and economics university, in my head, my future career was linked to the 'Big Four', to audit in particular. It seemed to me that it was a sphere where one could quickly get experience, boost their skills and make headway. I joined ‘Deloitte’ in my last university year: for 15 years, I worked in financial audits, and two years ago, I became an employee of the consulting office at our company. I realised that audits have their benefits and drawbacks. It is repetitive work which has long become a product and not a standalone service. Everyone sees it as something standard that anyone can do. However, consulting is still quite a specialised service customised for a certain client or project. I took it as a challenge.
— Is it fair to say that consulting is different as it is more interdisciplinary, people with different sets of knowledge can join this sphere, while audit is more financial and economical?
— Yes and no. It is a fact that consulting is more interdisciplinary. Consulting companies and consulting units of large auditing companies really hire people with very diverse backgrounds and education, and the work features tasks from absolutely different spheres. In audit, everything is customed for finance, accountancy and auditing activities but at the same time, you can engage in audit with a non-financial background. An alumni can graduate from, let's say, a faculty of chemistry at MSU or SPbU and still join an auditing or consulting company. I have seen such cases. The main thing here is a mindset: it has to meet the requirements and fit the career path which the graduate chose, whether it's audit or consulting.
— How would you describe this mindset?
— An auditor is a scrupulous and diligent person who works with documents and deals with people at the same time. It requires diving into quite serious processes, working with data as well as knowing accountancy which can be gained not at a university but while working on a project. Consulting has similar characteristics but at the same time, a person has to be more flexible and open to new things. Both directions equally require attention to the requests of clients and structuring work depending on them. If you do not understand why you do what you do, the result is likely to be low quality. That is why understanding clients' needs and the tasks you perform as well as the final result expected from you is the most important element of our activities.
— Your office has employees who came to you not from economics or finance but political science and related disciplines, for instance. Do social sciences correspond in general to the mindset described by you?
— Perhaps, here the most important thing is not background itself—social sciences, data analysis, economics or management—but openness to something new. A person who comes from political or social sciences has skills in working with data and research. If a person graduates from a university, they can analyse information and draw conclusions from this analysis. These are qualities and skills which will definitely come in handy when working as a consultant.
— It sounds like consulting is a creative work which has nothing boring, documentary and documents execution. Is it true?
— Of course not. But we have to distinguish: there is the first point about how you do your work and then how you arrange it. It seems to me that now, there are few professions in which people do not have to face administrative work. We have certain procedures and policies which we have to follow. Apart from execution, there are policies on independency and ethics. We teach our employees how to work according to the principles on which the 'Big Four' was based—these are objectivity, independence and a customer-oriented approach. However, obviously, there are boring things as well. They are just not the basis of our work, they can be taught. The mindset cannot be altered but teaching how to arrange your work as it is required is possible anyway.
— If the company 'BST' can teach its employees the necessary skills and procedures, what is your interest in cooperating with universities and the programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia' in particular?
— Unlike other countries, our novice specialists are people with higher education. Universities form those principles which we need in our work as auditors and consultants: diligence, attention to detail, analytical mindset—this is what the majority liked to mention in their resumes. Schools do not teach these. That's why we need a person who joins us for initial positions to have this basis. Gaining it without studying at a university is very difficult. It is possible but difficult.
When I worked in Scotland, 'Deloitte' launched a quite successful programme on hiring people right after school. One employee joined us via this programme but I saw how motivated he was: even without an academic basis, he had an analytical one. He was ready for the work at a consulting company, he didn't need any additional training.
But if we want to get such people, high school must provide a little more than it does now in Russia: we need more applied knowledge which will come in handy at work. Perhaps, we will get there at some point depending on how our educational system will change. However, at this stage, we understand that our audience is university graduates.
In fact, that is why we made a decision to cooperate with you in the framework of the Master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'—we are interested in preparing and getting clear results. We don't have to go looking for students and alumni with the necessary skills and competencies because we understand that this programme already prepares specialists with the required basis. We are focused not only on certain universities but also on specific programmes which are famous for their graduates' level of training, teaching methodology and curriculum.
— How deep do you get into such cooperation?
— We look at the curriculum and give guidelines on its contents. We are also ready to involve students in project work because we see the maximum benefit in it: for students, it is a good practice, and for us, it is a great chance to have a look at students working and start getting to know potential future candidates. Besides, involving students in our projects is a good opportunity to get a fresh perspective. You do as you know and are used to, the same is true for your employees because they are your subordinates. But then, a student comes for an internship and can bring their vision, their perspective on a problem and give additional impetus to the project by doing so.
Of course, there are limits with which we have to work related to the confidentiality of certain clients' information. But at the same time, apart from client projects, we also engage in research activities. We would be interested in trying your students in such research activities.
— BST is famous for its programme of paid internships. Could you tell us about this opportunity: how do students get there? What do they do during the programme?
— We have long been holding the programme of summer internships which allows students to try themselves and figure out if consulting, auditing, and taxes suit them or if they should look for something else. For us, it is a good chance to train a specialised expert to whom we could offer future employment. As a rule, the internship lasts for three months after which they can switch over to a full-fledged employment contract. An important peculiarity of the internship is that in this case, students become BST employees and participate in the work with clients which means they have to follow the requirements to maintain information confidentiality.
— Do you mean that in the framework of internships, students carry out full-fledged work?
— Yes, it is full-time work on the tasks of our office.
Interviewed by Andrey Starodubtsev, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'