Seine Yumnam ’17 – Get up at 4:30am, start working by 6am, then return back by 8 pm, and go back to work at 10 pm again for a while – an introduction to the schedule of a consultant.
Coming right out of my freshman year and consulting for BMW is, of course, challenging. It seemed like the entire world was on my shoulders – a lot of responsibilities to take care of on my own. P3 North America sent me as a consultant to be a member of a quality control task force at BMW. I was given full responsibility of two production lines in BMW from day one to manage and monitor. In addition to that, I produced daily data analytics to pinpoint the unit in the supply chain that needed more attention for quality control. My reports and analyses were the foundations of the decisions that the task force lead would potentially make. My performance and speed kept the regular meetings and discussions going. In addition to doing these regular tasks, I was able to outperform P3’s and BMW’s expectations of me. I added greater detail to the already existing data analytics and helped in narrowing down the areas to focus on for problem solving; and furthermore, I designed a project management concept for one of the entities in the supply chain for BMW X5. I went forward with it, implemented, and saw the results with my own eyes – making a valuable contribution to BMW and a moment of satisfaction for me.
Wondering how I survived the pressure? P3 colleagues were always there to give support wherever necessary. They understood my level of knowledge and experience, and accordingly they gave time to guide me even though they didn’t work in the same project as I was in. Their support and understanding kept me motivated. I would particularly thank Emma Knapp who is the Executive Assistant of the CEO for her warm welcome. She has always been reliable. She made me feel like I was a part of the P3 Team. I want to thank P3 as well for trusting me and sending me to BMW in South Carolina, the only worldwide supplier of BMW products, to deal with the BMW leaders, customers, and other corporate-level associates. My performance at BMW would reflect P3’s capability, and P3 was ready to take that risk. To keep up with these challenges and all the expectations my colleagues from P3 had, I worked at least 14 hours every day and said good bye to my weekends. But this was a milestone skill development opportunity, and I have acquired significant knowledge of how to effectively interact with clients, understand their needs/problems, and offer solutions.
Right now I am back at the Detroit office from South Carolina. My new work package is to develop a project concept to increase international trade for the Michigan based small to medium sized companies. P3 is working on it as a partner with Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Strategic Fund. I am heavily engaged with this project and my dad, an economist, gives me useful insight on this. So, I am not alone and helpless. Everywhere I turn, there is support.
So far I have been to South Carolina, Atlanta, and Detroit. This work-travel experience blends well to give me a balanced summer. Nothing would have been possible without the Small Business Internship Fund, and I am really grateful to Career Services for providing such a game changing experience.
