Naj Hayat explains being a graduate in Capgemini's Institute

Naj Hayat is a Associate Consultant in Business Technology who has graduated in Information Technology and Business Systems. She is passionate about innovation and supporting clients to build digital capability whilst embedding agile ways of working.

In honour of the Capgemini Invent Research Institutes one-year anniversary, Naj wrote about her personal experiences throughout her journey within the program.

Learning by doing

Capgemini Invent’s Institute provides an exciting, fun learning environment for Accelerate graduates via a three-month, practical training programme which forms part of the Accelerate programme.

The Insititute is designed to support the development of future inventive minds by equipping them with the necessary skills to offer value-added solutions for clients.

Capgemini's renowned Accelerate programme consists of three phases:

Phase 1: The Institute – 3-month training focusing on building core consultancy skills
Phase 2: Foundation – 6-months’ worth of client engagement, where Institutees “learn by doing”
Phase 3: Skilled Academy – 12 months’ worth of continued client engagements, as well as further career developments and specialism

An continuously growing programme

Capgemini

Naj explains how the concept of the Institute came to life.

"It all began with the Capgemini team in Germany 16 years ago, with only eight participants. Over the years, the idea of the Institute has been implemented towards global onboarding and has been growing ever since! It is a new process in the UK, having five cohorts graduate from the Institute. The stats show the programme has recruited over 100 graduates, completing over 300 assignments – with an outstanding satisfaction of 8.7/10!" she says.

A safe environment and training ground

Capgemini Business Consultant jobs

The 2-3-week induction period onboards the Accelerate graduates, covering key sessions for core consulting skills. It also gives everyone a chance to get to know each other. The graduates are then welcomed to the 3-month Institute period. "This is a safe environment which is a ‘training ground’, giving graduates an opportunity to network across the business; that means work hard, play hard! Everyone at Capgemini is super friendly and they want you to succeed… So how can you prepare? – The real secret to success is enthusiasm!" she adds.

"I continuously hear in meetings: “our virtual door is always open”. Everyone is so welcoming which makes you feel that you are part of a wider community."

Receiving support from managers, coaches and peers

Each Institutee is assigned:

A personal development manager (PDM): to help with any managerial and personal development related questions
A dedicated coach for each assignment: supporting them to get familiar with the internal processes, ensuring we have good preparation and management, providing continuous feedback
A buddy from the previous intake: for those friendly chats where your buddy with provide support and encouragement, Naj explains that it is also an opportunity to ask any further questions you may have

"Additionally, we hold various socials with the cohort, so seeking advice from your own peers is like second nature, we are indeed one big team who look out for one another!" she says.

"Through International Happy Wednesday events, we get to know our colleagues across the Atlantic or the Channel, with the use of fun quizzes and games. It is the perfect way to channel our competitive streak!"

The nature of assignments

Institutees are given assignments for internal ‘clients’ to simulate the project experience. This is a safer environment for the first steps of tackling the project as an Institutee. Institutees ‘learn by doing’ by following the assignment process to ensure they are confident throughout, gaining continuous feedback of the work done until the delivery call, where the final deliverable is presented. At the end, the Institutee also requests the client for feedback on how they tackled the overall project with achievements and development needs on various criteria.

"There are many skills that the Institutees pick up on the way such as critical analysis through providing feedback from Jour Fixe presentations, active listening, collaboration and overall organisation skills which are all key skills for a successful consultant. Looking back at it, I managed to subconsciously pick up a lot of skills on the way!" adds Naj.

"It is a great practice of the 70-20-10 model where 70% of knowledge is obtained by practical job-related experiences, 20% obtained by interactions with others, and 10% from formal training. Being involved in such an environment means that we in turn, exceed expectations of the quality of work being delivered."