Roohi Mahapatra is our Alum of the Month for November. Roohi completed her MSc in Management in 2013 and after interning at Deloitte in India, she now works in London.
What’s your current job?
I work in London as a management consultant at PwC, specialising within the financial services sector. Within management consulting, I work with clients across the areas of strategy, finance, risk and operations.
What does this involve?
A typical example of a client project I have worked on was with a global investment bank where I analysed the bank’s operating model and business processes, benchmarked the processes against peer companies and provided recommendations on best-in-class market practices.
Where have you worked previously?
As part of my LSE course, I worked with the consulting division for Deloitte in London on a business project to better understand the drivers of innovation in underdeveloped countries. During my time at the LSE, I also interned with Deloitte India in the audit division.
How has the programme you studied helped you since graduation?
A consulting project generally involves multiple client issues that need to be solved with limited and/or abstract information provided by the client. The projects are time pressured and you need to provide a compelling recommendation by the end of it, which can prove to be challenging.
During my time at LSE, I studied modules on strategy which taught me how to think about a problem using frameworks (Porter’s five forces, 3C’s model to name a few). These have helped me address client issues in a more structured manner. I now try and apply frameworks to client problems in order to be able to break them down into manageable pieces and work through them logically. I think the importance of such a skill goes beyond consulting and is transferable to any other job/role that I might take up during my career.
Who inspires you?
My father. I saw him leave his corporate career when he was at his peak to start out as an entrepreneur in India. I learned that the struggle of being a first generation businessman and making it work within India’s bureaucratic system is a whole new ball game. What inspires me is his relentless work ethic, his mental and physical stamina, his positivity and the energy he has at his age!
What’s the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
I think the greatest challenge I had to overcome was finding a job in the London market, which was especially tough being an international student. My advice to students looking for a job is to keep at it and make full use of the LSE career services.
How has studying at the Department of Management allowed you to make an impact?
The Department of Management provided me with great quality faculty, rigorous course materials and a set of largely diverse classmates. This equipped me with the resources I needed to understand the world of business management and help organisations run their business more efficiently.
What do you do in your free time?
I started learning Indian Classical Dance (Bharatanatyam) at the age of 8. I went on to receive professional training and I hold a 3 year diploma in Bharatanatyam. I am now pursuing intermediate level Classical Ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance in London.