Andrea Christabel Noronha, president of 180° Consulting

Hello Andrea! First of all, may you introduce yourself for those who don’t know you?

Hello! Of course! I am a 25 years old Master in Management student currently at ESCP London. My background is in investment banking and psychology. I joined 180 Degrees Consulting in 2019 as a project leader and am currently serving as the President and Head of Business Development.

What is 180 Degrees Consulting?

180 Degrees Consulting is the world’s largest university-based consultancy providing socially conscious organizations around the world with very high quality, extremely affordable consulting services. We work with these inspiring clients to develop innovative, practical and sustainable solutions to strategic challenges they’re facing.

180DC ESCP was founded with a mission:

• To bring together the brightest students at ESCP Business School who are eager to take part in a meaningful experience, enhance their knowledge and develop their professional skill set while solving real business challenges.
• To give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and capabilities, while working with and for Europe’s most socially driven start-ups, non-profit organizations and charities, while training them to develop their consulting expertise in professional, real-world settings.

What differentiates 180 Degrees Consulting from the other consulting societies at ESCP?

Our unique value proposition aims at filling a gap in ESCP student life through our 5 differentiation factors that reinforce our branch’s identity on every campus:

• Social Focus: Our value proposition focuses on socially and environmentally impactful clients.
• Diversity & Inclusion: When we were founded at ESCP Paris, 180DC ESCP was the one of the few consulting societies to welcome non-francophone students. Currently, we represent a community of 15+ nationalities.
• Expertise: We have strong expertise with start-ups, small business ventures, NGOs and impact consulting firms. Over the past 2 years we have collaborated with 17 clients and completed 6250+ hours of consulting.
• Recruitment: We recruit at the beginning of each new semester – Fall and Spring, and offer semesterly and yearly positions, depending on your preference and availability. Additionally, we are present on all ESCP campuses – so you are able to be part of our organisation throughout your studies at ESCP as well as work with team mates from diverse academic programs and across ESCP campus cities.
• 180DC Global Network: Our current community stands at 35+ countries with 150+ branches who have successfully completed 5200+ consulting missions. Our alumni hold high positions in top-tier consulting firms.

What are the main tasks achieved by 180 Degrees Consulting last year?

The last academic year was an exciting one for 180DC ESCP as we successfully completed 7 consulting missions for French and German clients like Les Restaurants du Coeur, the Jane Goodall Institute France, Forbidden Stories, and more! We also hosted training sessions on topics like Consulting Essentials and Tableau animated by Bain & Company, Deloitte, Groupe SOS Consulting and former consultants from BCG Gamma. Our events included a range of masterclasses by speakers from UNESCO, B Lab Europe, Capgemini and Valrhona.

What are your objectives for this year?

We are pretty ambitious here at 180DC ESCP. A few of our larger goals this year include strengthening our presence on all 5 ESCP campuses (Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Turin) and developing our alumni community that currently consists of 110+ members. We are also continuously improving our learning and performance indicators to ensure maximum value addition for all stakeholders.

In your opinion, what are the main qualities that a consultant must have?

While we have identified and defined a comprehensive list of over 13 key transversal competencies and characteristics we look for in our consultants, they can be generally synthesized into three main categories:

• Commitment and Social Drive: 180DC members exhibit both the drive and ability to dedicate their time and effort to upholding the organization’s missions, vision and values. Additionally, they are both highly passionate about creating positive social and environmental impact, as well as have taken action to create such impact.
• Hard Skills: 180DC consultants display high interpersonal skills, presentational ability, written and spoken fluency, proactivity, professionalism and timeliness. They excel at creative problem solving, analysis and teamwork.
• Growth Mindset & Solutions Orientation: 180DC consultants demonstrate an active curiosity to learn and improve, as well as to ensure criticism is given and received constructively, adapt to evolving needs and display resilience.

What does the experience at 180 Degrees Consulting bring to a member?

I can say with utmost confidence that being part of the 180DC ESCP journey was one of my best experiences at ESCP. I had the opportunity to work with engaged clients and on missions with real, tangible impact. I could see our recommendations being taken seriously. Additionally, it’s a community wherein everyone learns from each other while also experiencing the freedom to be themselves. Lastly, I have gained and grown so much in professionalism, confidence and consulting skills that I am sure to take forward in my career.

As an international student, what do you thing about the ESCP’s student life? Do you think that the student societies should welcome more international students?

It is hard to evaluate ESCP’s student life in its entirety as it varies from campus to campus. 180DC ESCP was founded on the opportunity that was present at ESCP’s Paris campus – an absence of a consulting body purely dedicated to impact creation through a diverse workforce. ESCP is an international school. Having associations that represent this diversity can only add to the legitimacy of one’s work and identity.

Overall, ESCP students are extremely active and entrepreneurial going by the quality and quantity of associations present. There is definitely a lot to learn by being part of this ecosystem.

Recruitments are now closed for this year. Nonetheless, would you have advice for the students who would like to join 180 Degrees Consulting next year?

We will be opening applications for consultants and executive members for Spring 2022 in November 2021. Follow our social media (LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook) to receive news on our events and recruitment timeline.

You can reach out to us on escp.recruitment@180dc.org if you have any questions or would like to speak to any of our members. If you would like to chat further about 180DC drop me a message on LinkedIn or at andrea.noronha@180dc.org 🙂

We look forward to hearing from you!

Cette interview a été réalisée par Clémence Biergeon, membre de Streams.