What does it take to be an award winning management consultant? Is the only route via university graduate schemes? And how do you stand out in such a competitive industry?
We sat down with Hamaid Motala to understand his unconventional route into consulting, how he started a Muslim network within PwC and his insight into what management consultancy means to him.
1) Your route to snr associate consultant hasn’t necessarily been the most traditional route. Can you cover how you’ve progressed from A-Levels to snr associate consultant at PwC?
What kicked off my interest in the industry was a work placement I did at EY when I was 16 years old. On the work experience not only did they introduce us to the other Big4 firms but also the different areas of a professional services firm. It was from here that consultancy was the area that stood out to me the most.
In the final week of the work placement you’re part of a project team and you truly get to see see what working in that area is like. I joined a consultancy project team and I loved my time there. The particular project that I worked on was focussed on one of the local hospitals and it was a really interesting experience for me.
When I came back to my A levels I did apply to universities and alhamdulillah received offers from all my choices. I knew consultancy was where I wanted to end up and saw EY and Deloitte were offering apprenticeship programmes – however their schemes were only offered in London. I didn’t want to relocate from Leeds to London at the time and so thought about accepting an offer to study Economics and Management from the University of Manchester.
At the same time I did keep checking to see if anything was opening in the North and I found that PwC had recently started offering an apprenticeship in Leeds. Coming from a small town in the North I didn’t realistically think I would get into the scheme however even though the process was very competitive – I alhamdulillah received an offer to join PwC as an apprentice.
What I decided to do was to defer my university offer for a year and experience what this path could offer me. This would allow me to experience if I really would enjoy consultancy, have no university loans if I decided to carry on working whilst at the same time having the option of studying at university if I wanted to.
2) What has the progression been like through each stage of your training?
From the beginning I was always directly involved with clients and their queries. That being said, the two years as an apprentice are one of a lot of support from PwC both in terms of coaching and training.
After the two years you have a review where your skills and competencies are reviewed and looked at. If you pass this review you get promoted to associate level which you normally stay at for 2 years. At the time I was promoted to associate PwC luckily for me introduced a fast track promotion and I took advantage of this to get promoted to snr associate in 1 yr.
In terms of responsibility; its been similar throughout it’s just that my capabilities and competencies have improved. This has led to a lot more independently produced reports as well as leading more projects.
When I joined as an apprentice I was doing a similar level of work that a university graduate would do. Currently if I had to compare the work I’m doing now it would be what a university graduate would be doing 2 years into their career. This is a great competitive advantage of starting on the apprenticeship scheme as you are ahead of your peers in career progression.
3) What is management consultancy?
In very simple terms it’s helping organizations solve their complex problems.
A management consultant translates this by going to organisations and talking to their staff. They listen and understand where their pain points are and then figures out how to solve them.
4) You’ve got a lot of experience in the public sector; is there a type of mindset you need to apply when consulting here?
The mentality of when you’re working for a public sector organization is that you’re there to help people around you as opposed to focusing on profit. A lot of my experiences have been with local bodies with the objectives to assist the local population have a better experience and service.
As a Muslim this is something very important to me. Ive always wanted to be aligned in this area where I can help society and make a difference to peoples’ lives.
5) How big are your teams and do you have to be very adaptable as your team can change project to project?
In terms of the teams they definitely do vary. I’ve worked in teams with 40 people whilst other times there’s just been 2. The size of the team will determine the responsibilities that you have on each project.
“In consulting, relationship building is core to everything that you do.”
The key skill for a management consultant is that you have to be able to build relationships. In consulting, relationship building is core to everything that you do.
6) A common theme we’ve seen with consultants is that they give a lot back to society in their spare time. You were involved as a leader in the scouts and an archery school. Are consultants just very giving!
Consultants in general have the same personality traits – with most being extroverts. They generally do well in big crowds and are confident in using their skill set for the better good.
I’ve personally been a volunteer in the scouts and teacher at an archery club. I got to leverage my skills such as leadership as well as working and dealing with people.
The reason I did those wasn’t just purely to put it on my C.V. but I generally wanted to help others and inshAllah is something I can carry on doing.
7) Following on from that question; you’re currently the PwC North Muslim Network Lead. What does this entail?
The PwC Muslim Network is traditionally centred around London and working up North I really didn’t have much exposure to it. I once got an email about a London Muslim Network event which invited all people to join, so I thought why not go and see what it’s about. I attended and it was a thoroughly enjoyable event; through the event I met a lot of colleagues and some I now consider my best friends.
I’ve never taken part in events where alcohol is present and there are many others who share the same feelings. The London networking event was a fun way to interact with Muslim colleagues and when I got back to Leeds I wondered why this didn’t exist up North.
With no existing network I actually ended up founding the Muslim North Chapter myself and PwC were very supportive of this initiative. We’ve got a lot of sponsorships for our events particularity from senior partners both Muslim and non Muslim.
The events we’ve held so far include Eid celebrations, networking events and we’ve just kick started a Muslim networking scheme.
8) Have you found location mobility can be something easy to achieve in your role?
Location mobility depends a lot on the client you’re working with. A great example is when I was working on a company located in the Middle East. I lived there (with all costs covered by the company) for the majority of 2019.
It was such a great experience – every weekend I was able to go Umrah! I was also able to visit Cairo, Jordan, Oman to name a few of many holidays whilst abroad, so there’s definitely scope for moving around. It really was a great professional and personal experience to work and live in a different culture.
Hamaid and his wife travel regularly, make sure to follow their ever growing Instagram page!
9) You’ve been recognised nationally for your management consultancy skills. Can you tell us about your recent award?
This was being recognised in the 2020 Best New Apprentice Management Consultancies Association Award. As a keen football fan if I have to describe it – it’s the Ballon d’Or of management consultancy!
This is an award where you have to be referred by someone to receive this – with a senior partner putting me forward for it. There was an application process followed by numerous panel interviews. You’re also assessed in how you’ve progressed as a management consultant and the skills you’ve developed.
10) This brings me on to my last question. What skills have you developed the most and found most useful in being a consultant?
I believe my ability to come across genuine is the best skill. There’s often a view that consultants come across as robotic but I’ve found being genuine makes it a lot easier to build relationships with my clients.
Additionally, I’ve also found it massively important to improve your technical skills in reporting and data analysis. This is an ever increasing part of the management consultant job.
11) Final four
12) LinkedIn Profile
