What is the day-to-day life of a female consultant at zeb really like?

What does a typical morning look like for you and how can you tell early on whether the day will be quiet or hectic?

My day rarely starts in a rush. First, I make myself a cup of coffee and take a moment to think about everything I want to get done today. I usually know in advance whether the day will be quiet or busy, as it depends largely on what I’m working on at the time. It is rare for a task that needs to be completed immediately to come in out of the blue. So, in most cases, the day is quite predictable.

What does your typical week look like?

I have various recurring appointments throughout the week, including internal meetings, regular meetings with clients and spontaneous appointments on current topics.

I deliberately reserve Friday afternoons for administrative tasks such as time tracking, travel expense reporting and updating the Capa tool. There is generally not so much going on at that time anyway. I also have an appointment with my CDC every Friday, where we talk about all sorts of things. This helps me reflect on the week.

How much time do you spend in meetings compared to focused work, and how do you schedule focus slots?

In order to stay focused on a single task for several hours at a time, I try to schedule my appointments so that I don’t end up with half-hour gaps in between. In such short windows, it is hardly worthwhile to fully immerse yourself in a task. Instead, I use any unavoidable 30-minute slots for administrative work that I would otherwise handle on Fridays or for responding to e mails.

What tools and working methods characterize your day-to-day work, and what hacks save you time?

In my day-to-day work, OneNote and Copilot in particular help me structure my tasks and stay organized. I also rarely start presentations from scratch. At zeb, there are many high-quality PowerPoint slides available, so I reuse suitable ones and draw on my own slide deck, where I have collected particularly good slides from various presentations. This saves me significant time whenever I prepare new documents.

What do you consider a good after-work routine, and what helps you unwind?

I find it easy to switch off. As soon as I close my laptop, I try to stop thinking about work. When I’m traveling, I can’t get anything done anyway, so there is no reason to worry about it. I prefer to focus fully during working hours and then truly unwind afterwards.

I’m an active person, and I usually like to stretch my legs after work. Sometimes I go to a bar with friends, sometimes I work out, but sometimes I just relax on the couch and watch a TV series.

Which assumptions about the day-to-day life of a consultant are accurate and which are not?

Yes, you do actually work a lot. But it’s also true that the time flies. I don’t wait for the end of the working day or constantly check the time. On the contrary, I’m often surprised by how quickly the day passes. The tasks are so varied that it never gets boring.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to achieve a good work-life balance. Despite the workload, appointments can often be arranged in a way that still leaves sufficient time for hobbies. The option to work from home also helps significantly. I can take care of small household tasks during my lunch break, and after work, I’m ready to go out directly from home.

Another nice aspect is the colleagues. Since many of them are of a similar age, we have plenty of common ground. We also meet privately from time to time or go out together in the evening as part of office events.

Travel depends heavily on the project. Since joining zeb, I have traveled relatively infrequently, about once a month on average. How much you travel therefore depends less on the role itself and more on the specific project.