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Meet Clea Roth, a consultant in our Frankfurt office working in Bain’s private equity practice. For a long time, consulting was never really on her radar, but conversations with colleagues during her PhD slowly began to challenge her assumptions.

From PhD to private equity consulting: Clea's path to Bain

Clea studied business administration at WHU for both her bachelor's and master's degrees before pursuing a doctorate at RWTH Aachen. During her PhD, she worked with engineering and other technically-oriented students, advising them on founding their own companies, helping them secure funding, write business plans, and launch startups. That experience opened her eyes to the appeal of fast-paced, project-based work. Not long after, she joined Bain.

Here, she shares the three misconceptions that almost kept her from applying, and how each one has played out in reality.

Three myths about consulting, debunked

Myth: Consulting is an extremely competitive environment, where everyone is fighting for themselves.

Reality: You’re competing with yourself, not your teammates.

I like using a golf analogy. In golf, you're essentially competing against yourself. The goal is to continuously improve your own score, not beat someone else directly. Everyone starts at a different level, but the winner is the person who improves the most.

That's exactly how it feels at Bain. There isn't this idea that someone is taking your position away from you, because there are enough opportunities for everyone. Your progression depends on your own development, not on pushing others aside. In fact, teamwork becomes even more valuable because when you help others improve, you improve yourself as well. You motivate each other, support each other, and pull each other forward together.

At least at Bain, this stereotype of constantly having to outshine or undermine others simply hasn't been true for me.

Myth: Only a very specific type of person can break into consulting.

Reality: Nobody joins already having all the skills; these are things you learn on the job.

I thought everyone had the same background, that it was very homogeneous, and that only a very specific type of person could succeed there. I simply didn't think I was the type of person who could do this job.

Once I actually looked into it, I realized it's not like that at all. In my first few weeks, I had countless coaching sessions, relearned Excel, and worked with people from completely different backgrounds. Some joined from medicine, some from engineering, others from law, and some had barely even opened Excel before. But they learn it too. It's absolutely something you can learn.

There are so many programs, especially at Bain, where you're actively supported and developed. There's a very clear and achievable path for what you can accomplish and when. You receive a huge amount of coaching, and having worked elsewhere before, I can honestly say that consulting is exceptional in how much they invest in training you to succeed.

I truly believe the more diverse this industry becomes, the better the outcomes will be, because everyone brings different perspectives and experiences to the table.

Myth: Consulting means working on the same type of problem repeatedly.

Reality: There’s always something new: new industries, new topics, and new challenges.

I can hardly think of another job where you learn so much so quickly. In the private equity group, we mainly focus on three major areas: healthcare and pharma, tech and software, and industrials and automotive. You switch projects frequently, and because the projects typically are only two to three weeks long, you're constantly exposed to something new.

I'm an extremely curious person, and that really appealed to me. You learn a lot of things very quickly and you have to absorb all of it.

If you're someone who enjoys diving into new topics, it creates a really exciting work environment. The job automatically motivates me more and keeps me much more energized and on my toes.