Hi everyone, my name is Filippa and I’m currently studying physics. Until recently, strategy consulting wasn’t really on my radar. That changed when I came across Roland Berger’s HERizon Weeks , a five-week program in Germany and Austria designed to give women first-hand insights into strategy consulting.

Why I applied for the HERizon Weeks

When I first came across the HERizon Weeks, I was actually looking for a new working student position. I had never really considered consulting before and, to be completely honest, I didn’t even know Roland Berger at the time.

What caught my attention was the opportunity to get a first taste of strategy consulting. I liked the idea of being able to explore a completely new field without already having to know whether it was the right career path for me. Having worked in project management before, I could also imagine that some of the things I enjoyed there – working with different people, structuring problems and contributing to projects – might translate well into consulting.

The format made the decision even easier: five weeks is long enough to get a real impression of the job, but short enough to fit into a semester without having to pause or extend your studies. So I thought: why not give it a try?

My expectations before starting

Since consulting was completely new to me, I didn’t really have a clear picture of what the five weeks would look like or what exactly I would be doing. I was excited to meet the other participants and, of course, also a little nervous about being thrown into a field I knew very little about. Apart from that, my expectations were fairly simple: I assumed there would probably be quite a lot of Excel and PowerPoint involved.

Getting a first-hand look at consulting

After our onboarding week, I joined a large client project with several workstreams and got to experience what day-to-day consulting can actually look like. I worked closely with a Senior Consultant who helped coordinate my tasks, answered all my questions and made it very easy to become part of the team.

One thing that stood out to me was how many genuinely nice and motivated people I met. I also had a mentor I could turn to outside my immediate project team, which was very helpful. And yes, there was quite a lot of PowerPoint.

The HERizon community

Probably the most unexpected and lasting aspect of the HERizon Weeks was our cohort. During the first week, the seven of us quickly grew into a very close group. We all started with a similar level of consulting experience, which meant we could figure things out together rather than feeling like we had to know everything from day one.

During the four project weeks, we continued meeting every week to talk about what we were working on, what was going well and what we were struggling with. These conversations also helped us reflect on whether consulting was something we could imagine doing in the long run. Our experiences were sometimes surprisingly different, reflecting the variety of projects and teams we worked with. Comparing them gave me a much broader picture of consulting than my own project alone could have provided.

And the friendships didn’t end with the program. Since we now live all across Germany, we have started visiting each other whenever we can. This summer, some of us met up in Kiel and in September, Paris is next on the list.

What I gained most from the experience

The onboarding week was more valuable than I had expected. We learned the basic consulting toolkit, prepared for our projects and discussed what it can mean to be a woman in consulting. These conversations helped build confidence before entering a completely new working environment.

The four weeks on the project then gave me practical experience: working with a real team, contributing to actual project work and getting to know people with very different backgrounds and career paths. But if I had to choose one thing, the sense of community within our HERizon group is what made the experience particularly special to me.

What I’m taking away from the HERizon Weeks

Most importantly, I now have a much clearer picture of consulting and what matters to me in my future career. I still can’t say with certainty whether consulting will ultimately be the path I choose. But unlike before the HERizon Weeks, I definitely wouldn’t rule it out anymore.

The experience also confirmed something more general for me: it is worth exploring fields you have never considered before. You don’t have to know from the beginning whether something is right for you. Sometimes the best way to find out is simply to try it.

My journey at Roland Berger continues

My Roland Berger journey didn’t end after the five weeks. Following the HERizon Weeks, I was offered a working student position in Roland Berger’s AI Lab, which I was very happy to accept. The work there has been quite different from my HERizon project, but just as valuable and exciting. It has allowed me to see another side of Roland Berger and combine my technical background with a very different working environment.

At the beginning of September, I will switch roles once again and start a ten-week internship at Roland Berger, giving me the opportunity to experience another consulting area and another type of project. It will also give me the opportunity to answer some of the questions that are still open for me, including the big one: could I actually see myself becoming a consultant?

Who I would recommend the HERizon Weeks to

I would recommend the HERizon Weeks to women who are curious about consulting and want to gain first-hand experience before committing to a longer internship. The format is a great opportunity to explore the industry, build meaningful connections and get a real sense of what consulting is like. In my opinion, that is exactly what makes the format so impactful: you don’t need to have your career figured out before applying.

I would especially encourage STEM students to consider it. Coming from a technical or scientific background, strategy consulting might not be the most obvious next step – it certainly wasn’t for me. But the HERizon Weeks are a great opportunity to find out how skills such as analytical thinking, problem solving and quickly getting up to speed on unfamiliar topics translate into a completely different environment.

And even if you eventually decide that consulting isn’t for you, having a clearer idea of what you do – and don’t – want from your future career is already a valuable outcome.

If Filippa’s experience sounds exciting to you, we’d love to hear from you! Discover our HERizon Weeks program and apply now for the next HERizon Weeks in Germany or Austria, taking place in February/March 2027, here .