Sky is the limit – How working as a consultant in NIRAS Life Science Consulting is changing Nathalie’s career trajectory

A career within reach – becoming a consultant with NIRAS

For Nathalie, life as a consultant wasn’t even on the radar when it came to taking the first step in her professional career. The common perception between her peers was that you could become a consultant once you had established yourself in the workforce and had obtained a profile that was more senior than junior.

To her, though, the dream had always been to go in that direction and to get traction as fast as possible.

“When you’re new to the workforce and you’re an ambitious and career-oriented person, you spend a lot of time thinking about how you would like your work life to be, what your strengths and preferences are, and how – and if – you’ll be able to find a company or position that can get you where you want to go.

When I first started out, I hadn’t seriously considered the possibility of becoming a consultant because I thought that that was for people who had spent years as professionals within the life science sectors, and not for newly graduated profiles like me. I was quite surprised to learn that a career as a consultant was actually within reach, and that companies like NIRAS specialise in cultivating this kind of career path for profiles like my own”.

It was when Nathalie met NIRAS at a career fair that she learned about the possibility of becoming a consultant right off the bat. The idea of being able to shape your own work life, with the flexibility that comes with working as a consultant, spoke to Nathalie, and she started looking into the pros and cons of working as a consultant in a cooperative company vs. a consulting firm.

The conclusion was that NIRAS would be a perfect fit for an extrovert, ambitious profile such as herself. Here, she could get a fast-paced environment, but at the same time have a strong foundation and a safety net.

A company that always has your back

As a consultant, your workplace depends on the task at hand. The good thing about that is that you get to see a lot of different companies and experience a variety of environments. However, it can also be a vulnerable position to be in, if you don’t get the necessary support when it’s needed. Companies today take great measures to take care of their employees and this is no less important when you have consultants who work remotely and who also need to adjust to the environments of the companies that they’re solving a certain task for.

“One thing is being young and just starting out in the consultancy world when things are running smoothly. But if you don’t have a support system for when obstacles occur, then you can become very vulnerable. For me, it has meant everything to feel the support of NIRAS Life Science Consulting on an everyday basis. They always have our backs and you never feel left alone, and if something needs to be handled, they don’t hesitate and they put your needs first.”

In LICO, rule number one is that the consultants should feel just as much at home as the “regular” employees do, and one of the measures to ensure that is frequent network meetings where the junior consultants can meet up and share experiences, and where they get guidance and tools for e.g. communicating with other professional profiles, and for understanding their own profiles, strengths and areas of development.

“It’s a great thing to have this kind of network and focus on coaching because it helps us become the best possible versions of ourselves, both professionally and personally. It’s really helped me grow in ways I hadn’t expected, and my career path is much more clearer now than I had imagined possible two years ago.”