Career Path Of A Consultant At Adaptovate
Lucca's career path began with internships in college, including one at a CPA firm where data analysis proved "a little too technical." This experience, coupled with soured investment banking interviews during the pandemic, led to management consulting, resulting in an internship at Adaptive Eight which then transitioned to a full-time role as an analyst, and finally a promotion to associate at ADAPTOVATE.
Internship Experience, Management Consulting, Career Path, Data Analysis, Job Offer
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Lucca Polacci
Consultant
ADAPTOVATE
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
Business Management & Admin, Political Science, American Studies
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Business Strategy
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Interned at a CPA and wealth management firm doing data analysis, which helped him realize that a highly technical accounting-focused role wasn't the right fit for his career goals.
2. Explored investment banking internships but found the fully AI-driven interview process during the COVID pandemic to be unsatisfying.
3. Discovered management consulting through professors' recommendations and accepted an internship with ADAPTOVATE, which led to a full-time position and subsequent promotion.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Did you have any internships or jobs before your current role?
That's a great question. In college, I had a couple of different internships to get a feel for what I wanted to do going forward. The first was at a CPA and wealth management firm, doing a lot of data analysis.
While I enjoyed it, it was a little too technical for my liking. I wasn't getting a degree in accounting, so it was good exposure to that area, but it affirmed that that's not the direction I wanted to go with my career.
Going into my final semester at SU, I was looking at different internships, focused on investment banking. I got into a couple of places, but it was during the COVID pandemic, so a lot of those interviews were fully AI, which left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
I talked to some of my teachers and professors, and they encouraged me to look into management consulting. I didn't have a ton of exposure to that in my undergrad, so it was a bit foreign to me. I tried to read up on it as much as I could.
I applied to a couple of places and ended up accepting an internship offer for the summer with Adaptive Eight, a management consulting firm. I really loved my time there. Before coming on full-time, I decided to extend my internship at ATE through my last semester, which ended in December.
In January 2023, I came on full-time as an analyst. In January 2024, I was promoted to associate, and that's where I am today.