I had little to no interest in consulting.
A 20-year-old Anrian Tamba would never have mentioned consulting, let alone names like McKinsey, BCG, Bain (MBB). I had heard about consulting firms such as Accenture – some of my friends even joined them – but honestly, I had little to no interest in that word back then (around 15 years ago).
For context, I graduated in Accounting with a minor in Finance. From day one, my goal was clear: build a career in finance and banking. And, that’s exactly how I started, my professional chapter began as a banker at Citi Indonesia.
The core question is: “What changed?”
First, it’s important to understand that “banker” is a broad term. When someone says they work in banking, it could mean anything from a prop trader to a customer service officer. I was in operations, working as a Project Manager, responsible for managing operations people (direct/indirectly) as well as leading projects – exactly the kind of work that would link me to consulting world.
Second, as important as it might seem, the operations team at Citi often felt like a 2nd or even 3rd class citizen. Aside from the compensation and benefits (which are important), we were rarely involved in discussions with the key business decision-makers. That lack of visibility gave me perspective: I wanted to grow as a person who was closer to where the decisions were made, where strategy & execution met. That’s when the first seed of consulting started to take root in my mind.
Third, the startup scene began to boom during that time. It was the era when many promising and elite tech startups like Zalora, Gojek, Kartuku emerged. Interestingly, many of them were either founded or led by former consultants, especially from MBB. In addition, some of my colleagues at Citi had either applied or were preparing to move into consulting. Seeing their journey indirectly gave me an extra boost of motivation to prepare myself and to give it a shot.
Eventually, I applied to several consulting firms and started preparing during my final year at Citi. To my surprise, the process was far from simple. It required more discipline and structure than I initially imagined. Yet, after many sleepless nights and rounds of practice, I was fortunate to secure some offers including one from McKinsey, which became the foundation of my career to this day.
Looking back, I’ve learned that I must always stay open to wherever life leads me. Many times, the direction might drift far from the original plan, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong path. As long as I give my best and stay true to what I believe in, the journey will still take me to the right place.
In the next post, I’ll share more about my consulting preparation journey. It wasn’t easy and was quite challenging, but it was absolutely worth it.
Until next time, AT