A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Role of a Senior Consultant

How would you describe your role as a Senior Consultant at ALTEN Germany?

I work as a Business Analyst. My main responsibility is to analyze the business side of our applications and drive their further development together with the team. In doing so, I act as a bridge between business requirements and their implementation. My goal is to bring together the necessary information and make a meaningful contribution to the overall success of the project.

How did you join ALTEN?

I come from the Nuremberg area and regularly attend the Nuremberg Digital Festival. For me, it is a great opportunity to stay informed about current topics and developments while connecting with companies I would not normally encounter in my day-to-day work.

Whenever a particular session catches my interest, I usually take some time to learn more about the company behind it. That is how I first became aware of ALTEN. I was immediately impressed by the wide range of industries and opportunities the company offers. As a result, I applied to ALTEN even before attending the festival. Once there, I had the chance to meet the people behind the company and experience firsthand the collaborative culture and development opportunities available.

What projects are you currently working on?

Now, I am involved in a project that provides various interfaces for exchanging information and messages between different stakeholders. Since I only joined the project at the beginning of August, my current focus is on gaining a comprehensive understanding of the existing application.

This includes familiarizing me with business processes, roadmaps, and backlogs. Based on this understanding, I can help set priorities and ensure that product development progresses in a focused and effective way. Information security is also an important aspect of the project, which is why existing processes and procedures are currently being reviewed.

What challenges do you encounter most frequently in customer projects?

A common challenge is that, at the start of a project, you identify what seem to be the key stakeholders for a particular topic and assume they will have all the necessary information. However, it often turns out that knowledge is distributed across multiple people, or that even the responsible colleagues do not have all the answers.

In such situations, it is important to work together to uncover the missing information and make the connections between different aspects visible. This collaborative effort is what makes many projects so engaging and often leads to the best results.

Which skills do you consider most important for a Senior Consultant?

In my opinion, curiosity and open-mindedness are among the most important qualities. At the same time, it is essential to be able to understand complex topics and communicate them clearly to different audiences.

It is also important to bring together different perspectives while maintaining an overall view of the project. Especially in projects involving many stakeholders, this ability helps ensure informed decisions are made and objectives remain on track.

What do you personally enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy working in environments where many different stakeholders collaborate toward a common goal. What I find particularly exciting is that every individual brings their own experiences and perspectives to the table.

Bringing these different viewpoints together to create a complete picture and ultimately developing a product or solution that delivers real value, is what motivates me every day.

What advice would you give to people pursuing a career in consulting?

Be open to the opinions and perspectives of others. Often, it only becomes clear in hindsight which piece of input was ultimately crucial to solving a problem. At the same time, ideas that may not be visible in the outcome can still play an important role in achieving the result.

It is also important to stay curious, ask questions, and listen carefully. The most interesting challenges are often hidden behind the initial answers. Those who recognize this and continue to dig deeper can learn a great deal and continuously develop both personally and professionally.