You Don’t Learn Consulting from the Sidelines

The first years of a career are often described as a time for learning. But some of the most important learning starts when you are trusted to do the work for real.

There’s a big difference between preparing for responsibility and actually owning it.

For a new consultant, the first client meeting, the first difficult problem and the first deliverable that someone is genuinely relying on can feel uncomfortable. But they can also accelerate development in a way that preparation alone cannot.

That idea sits at the heart of Bloom, Newground's two-year graduate program.

Participants join one of Newground’s specialist companies and work as consultants from the start. But before entering their first client projects, they spend two intensive weeks together, with a strong focus on collaboration, self-reflection and leadership.

For both Josef Gustafson and Fanny Jäger Röding, who graduated from Bloom this spring, those weeks were more challenging, and more personal, than they had expected.

“I expected to come into an office and start doing what I had studied for,” Fanny says. “Instead, there was so much focus on who you are, how you work with other people and how you lead yourself.”

The intensity also creates something they will rely on later: a close group of peers going through the same experience.

After those first two weeks, the learning moves into client work, where they begin developing expertise within their company’s specialist field.

“Getting responsibility early is one of the things that makes you develop,” says Sophia Jaconelli, strategically responsible for Bloom. “You take responsibility for something, learn from it and become ready to take on more in the next project.”

For Josef, who joined Adage, that responsibility came almost immediately. His first assignment started just after the introductory weeks.

“I got a lot of responsibility, and that was quite scary at first. You are working with a client and you need to deliver. But I also had a lot of support. I learned an incredible amount from being there from the start.”

Being stretched is one part of learning. Having somewhere to turn while you are being stretched is another.

Alongside their client work, Bloom participants develop together with graduates from different Newground companies. They encounter different clients and challenges, but regularly come together to learn, reflect and share experiences.

For Fanny, who joined Influence People, that became particularly valuable during a challenging assignment early in her career.

“I could talk to the others about what was reasonable, what I could expect and what I could say no to as a junior consultant. I don’t think I would have had that group to share it with if it hadn’t been for Bloom.”

Those relationships also give participants access to perspectives beyond their own specialist area.

“You get this whole network almost for free,” Fanny says. “It has given me the confidence to take on more and contribute in different ways.”

Over time, situations that once felt unfamiliar start to feel manageable. Josef remembers realizing that walking into a meeting with people he did not know no longer made him nervous.

“I just knew it would be fine. I knew how to handle it.”

Because the goal is not to reach a point where nothing feels difficult. It is to become increasingly comfortable taking on things you have not done before.

That takes responsibility. It takes people to learn from. And it takes somewhere to turn when you do not yet have all the answers.

Looking back, Fanny describes the confidence that grew from those first intense weeks and everything that followed in much simpler terms.

“You come out thinking: bring it on. I can handle anything.”

Applications for Bloom 2027 open on September 14.