Photographed: Jay Raval reveals his insights of being a consultant with 180DC UNSW.
180 Degrees Consulting UNSW provides students with a plethora of opportunities to develop their professional skills, transferable to the consulting field and wider workplace environment.
Jay Raval, a second year commerce/ law student, has been with 180DC for two years as a consultant and project leader, and is here, ready to reveal his tips and tricks.
1. What does 180DC mean to you?
To me, 180DC UNSW represents a wholesome community of like-minded people incredibly passionate about creating positive social impact in the world and developing professionally.
2. Why did you decide to be a Consulting Director?
I decided to become a Consulting Director to further challenge and develop myself at 180DC UNSW. A role as a Consulting Director provides an incredible amount of exposure to a range of new challenges and requires you to develop a different set of skills. Further, my role as a Consulting Director also provides an exciting avenue to assist in shaping 180DC UNSW’s overall strategy, vision, and direction.
3. What are the roles and responsibilities associated with being a Consulting Director compared to a Project Leader?
Our Project Leaders are the backbone of 180DC. Their primary roles are to manage stakeholders such as clients, mentors, and the team, as well as to organise team workflows create work allocations, and develop the consultants. Alternatively, Consulting Directors are less hands on with the technical work of the project and are primarily involved in scoping projects with clients before the project cycle begins, assisting their Project Leaders, conducting training sessions, and assisting in shaping the overall strategy of 180DC UNSW.
4. What do you consider your most memorable experience in 180DC so far?
There have been a few but one that comes to mind occurred recently. During a recent scoping call with a client, the client informed us that work that we had previously done for the organisation, such as a Social Return on Investment Model and Volunteer Costing Model had been instrumental in securing additional funding for the organisation. This really is the crux of why we do what we do. 180DC UNSW provides an incredible opportunity to create social impact, all while meeting some incredible like-minded individuals, and developing yourself professionally.
5. What advice do you have for those thinking of joining 180DC, as a consultant?
As I mentioned earlier, 180DC UNSW is a community comprised of incredibly passionate individuals. My best piece of advice would be to show us your passion, whatever it may be.