In this edition of our Real Humans: Alumni series, we introduce Brigitta Jakob, once a telecom consultant who was looking for more strategy-related projects in the consumer space. She found the dynamic group assignments and diverse peers that would prepare her for a post-MBA profession in consulting at Cambridge Judge. Read her story and learn more about how Jakob pivoted to a strategy consulting career at Bain & Company.
Brigitta Jakob, Cambridge Judge MBA ’21, Manager at Bain & Company
Age: 31
Hometown: Jakarta, Indonesia
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Illinois Wesleyan University, Economics
Pre-MBA Work Experience: 4.5 years in Kearney in Jakarta (focusing in transformation work in telecom)
Post-MBA Work Experience: 3+ years in Bain in Jakarta & Australia (focusing in strategy and commercial due diligence for consumer industry)
Why did you choose to attend business school?
Halfway through my work at Kearney I realized that while I still liked consulting, I would like to pivot to more strategy-related projects in the consumer space, which was difficult to get exposure to at that moment given the company focus and specialty. What made sense was to make a jump to another consulting firm with the focus that I was looking for. Business school would help me to attain more credential in the market and help me confirm that continuing in consulting space still makes sense (by exposing me to many different industries & help me check whether they fit me).
Why Cambridge Judge? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Mostly because of the alumni network. Having studied in US, I knew that I would like to explore other geography like UK/EU. And I knew several alumni from my then firm who studied at Judge who are big advocates of the school. They were singing praises about how international the student body is, quality of the network, and credential of the school. Conversations with them helped me a lot to shape my thinking on how I can benefit from Judge. So by the time I got the offer, it was easy for me to land my choice for the school.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career? How do you feel that your MBA has been an asset when it comes to navigating new challenges, such as AI?
Judge offers plenty of courses that are relevant for us to navigate the professional world post MBA. And the dynamic group assignments with diverse peers were particularly helpful for me to replicate the actual working dynamic in professional world.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice
During the 1-year program, I took advantage of the numerous projects and certifications offered by Judge instead, because I wanted to test different industries. For example, I spent one term working the Early Childhood Authority in Abu Dhabi to help them shape curriculum for early childhood education. I also spent the summer working closely the NHS team in Cambridge to optimize their operations while getting my Six Sigma certifications.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
Because Bain is very strong in both strategy and consumer sector, which both were the main areas I wanted to focus on in my consulting career.
Advice to current MBA students:
—One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Double down on the student, alumni, and school network. You only need that one right contact to open door to opportunities that you are looking for. So boosting that chance will help you a lot.
—One thing you would change or do differently?
Be laser focus on what you want to optimize for during MBA – socializing, job searching, being involved in the extracurriculars, etc. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin by being involved with everything. Figure out your hierarchy of priorities and what you’re willing to sacrifice. And really enjoy the moment – it was one of the best years of my life 🙂
—Were there any surprises in your employer’s recruiting process?
Nothing that I could recall.
—What do you wish you had been told during your MBA?
You would think you had time, but time during MBA passes by very quickly. So enjoy yourself too amidst the job search! I could imagine if you consider doing an MBA, chances are you have had a few years of working experience. So when you step off the daily grind to pursue MBA, treat it as reflection window to think what you really want to pursue in long term and how does MBA or post-MBA job stack up to help you pivot towards that goal.
