How Advancy Accelerates Careers: Fatine’s Story

Key Insights:

Career Growth At Advancy: Fatine’s path from intern to manager shows how clear feedback systems and steady support create rapid development opportunities.
Culture And Collaboration: Advancy’s close New York office, global exchanges, and strong mentorship network create a community that helps consultants grow faster.
Strategy Work With Depth: The firm’s blend of scientific rigor and strategic thinking sets it apart and gives consultants meaningful responsibility early in their careers.

From starting as an intern in Advancy’s Paris office to helping build its fast-growing New York team, Fatine Cherradi’s Advancy career progression is a case study in what happens when a steep learning curve meets real support.

In this interview with Management Consulted, Fatine breaks down Advancy’s pure-play strategy work, the firm’s feedback-driven promotion path, and why curiosity is the single biggest driver of success — along with the mentorship, global collaboration, and office culture that helped her accelerate from day one.

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Advancy Manager Career Journey: From Intern to New York Leader

MC: Japheth Mast
Fatine, can you kick us off by giving us an overview of your personal background and how you got to Advancy?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Yes, of course. Happy to be here. I am currently a manager at Advancy. I am Moroccan-American, so I was raised in Morocco and then I moved to France for school.

For the final internship of my master's, I knew I wanted to go into consulting. I was really looking for an experience that would give me problem solving, a variety of industries, and also a very steep learning curve. And that's how I first joined Advancy as an intern.

What Is Advancy? Global Strategy Consulting Firm Overview

MC: Japheth Mast
It certainly sounds like Advancy was the right fit for you based on what I know about the firm. For those who are not as familiar with Advancy, can you quickly introduce the firm? Which industries does it play in? What are your key practice areas?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Advancy is a global strategy consulting firm founded in Paris over 25 years ago. We currently have around 300 consultants across the world, with offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and New York, which is where I'm based.

In terms of type of work, we're a pure strategy player, which means that we really focus on either M&A work with private equity players or corporate strategy for corporate companies.

From an industry point of view, speaking about New York specifically, we mainly play in three core industries. The first is specialty materials, industrials, and chemicals. We also have consumer goods and food ingredients. And then the third and final one is life sciences, which involves pharma, biopharma, and life science tools.

Moving from Paris to New York: Why Fatine Transferred Offices

MC: Japheth Mast
So if you're at Advancy, you kind of know the areas and industries that you’ll be playing in. You have a good idea of the type of work that you'll be involved in. And I love that Advancy is pure-play strategy. I think that's getting more and more rare to find in the world of consulting, so it's always great to hear.

You are in New York now, but you didn't start there. You began your career as an intern in France before moving to New York. What motivated you to move offices?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Yeah, of course. When I joined Advancy as an intern, it was early 2021. When I joined in Paris, I was hearing a lot about the New York office. I knew it was really getting off the ground and was already experiencing very strong growth.

I was really motivated to join because I wanted to be part of that project very early on. I knew that by joining early, I would have the opportunity to help shape the office. That was really motivating me to join New York, and so I joined New York as a junior consultant right after my internship.

Building Advancy’s New York Office: Growth and Culture

MC: Japheth Mast
I love that. Tell us a little bit about how you've seen the New York office grow and change in the four years since you've been there.

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think when I joined, I really saw this as a unique opportunity because we were, and still are, building something here in the United States kind of from the ground up. But at the same time, we have this very strong foundation of Advancy history and legacy,.

So that gave us a lot of structure and also flexibility. We had a lot of processes in place, and we weren't building everything from scratch. At the same time, for New York specifically, we're really able to shape the culture of the office.

When I joined, I believe we were less than 10 people. Now we are around 50. By participating in hiring and shaping the culture, I've had a lot of flexibility and impact.

Paris vs. New York: Key Differences Between Advancy Offices

MC: Japheth Mast
I've heard you say a couple of times that you've gotten to shape the New York office, shape the culture, shape who gets hired, play a part in the recruiting process. If someone’s looking to join a rocket ship that's taking off, then New York is a great office to join.

Can you highlight maybe one to two differences that you saw between the Paris office and the New York office?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I would say the key difference, of course, is size. Just because of the size difference, New York is a bit more close-knit. We just know each other really well, and there's a bit more informality in how we address each other.

You can really walk up to either a partner or principal and ask them questions. Outside of the formal mentorship circuits, I really feel like we have strong mentorship and support that we can get from anyone in the office at any time.

It's the overall close-knit aspect that we bring just because we are a smaller office, and we've really been able to foster that.

Advancy Career Path: From Intern to Manager in Strategy Consulting

MC: Japheth Mast
We'll chat about mentorship here a little bit more in detail, but first I'd love to transition to talk about your personal journey and trajectory at Advancy. You've had some incredible growth. You started off as an intern and you've gotten promoted many times. You're now a manager.

Can you first give us a quick walkthrough of your Advancy career progression?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Of course. So how it works at Advancy: I personally started as an intern, but most people usually will come in as a Junior Consultant I. The typical path would be Junior Consultant I and II, then Consultant I and II, Senior Consultant I and II, and then Manager and so on. That is the path you would go through if you join.

In terms of progress, what has really made it easy for me is that we have a very strong feedback loop here. After every single project, you are getting a review. And then every six months you are sitting with the managing director or one of the partners, and you are getting a very detailed review of your performance – exactly where you're at in terms of your growth and what is expected for you to get to the next level.

So to me it felt like a very seamless process because I always knew exactly where I stood. When I was a Junior Consultant, I knew what skills I was good at and exactly what skills I had to work on to get to the next level.

On top of that, I really felt like there was a lot of support. If you get a review that highlights a specific skill you need to work on, the staffing will try to put you on a project where you will have to work on that specific skill to get to the next level. In that sense, there is a lot of structure and support that really makes the promotion cycle very seamless.

Steep Learning Curve: Feedback, Support, and “Small Office Feel”

MC: Japheth Mast
That's awesome. So you get kind of a small office feel, but you get the support and structure of a global organization with Advancy, which says a lot about the kind of firm that it is. I think I counted eight different titles that you've had at Advancy, which is pretty awesome for a five-year career.

Obviously, that's some really quick progression. Within that progression, was there a specific moment or promotion or challenge where you felt like you leveled up and took the next step?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
That's a good question because I think it's pretty hard to say; everything always feels challenging. But maybe looking back, by the end of my time as a Consultant – around Consultant II – I was very comfortable with the hard skills aspect of the job. I knew how to build a model, how to structure a slide, and I felt like a very good individual contributor.

When you move to the Senior Consultant step, I thought that was a big step change, because suddenly it wasn't just about me being a good individual contributor. I was also in charge of other people's work, even if it wasn't the full team. You have to oversee other people, make sure they are delivering on time, not just yourself, and that everyone is getting to the finish line.

That was when I felt like, “Okay, this is leveling up” – from being a very good Consultant doing your own work to also overseeing what other people are doing and making sure everyone is at the right pace and delivering the right level of work.

Who Thrives at Advancy? Curiosity, Drive, and Growth Mindset

MC: Japheth Mast
That's wonderful. It's a different skillset to move from that individual contributor role into a place where you're managing people, which says a lot about the trust that Advancy places in its people.

What do you think that says about the types of people that fit in the best at Advancy?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think the first thing is you have to be a very curious person. To me, that is the biggest one. Because of the type of projects that we do – strategy projects that are pretty short, a couple of weeks – you get to do a lot of them over a year. Every single project is going to be a new industry, a new client, a new problem to solve.

By nature, you have to be genuinely interested in digging into each industry, understanding each client's problems, and really exploring that. So curiosity, to me, is by far the number one.

Then I would say drive. Because of the nature of our office in New York, you can really grow as fast as you are ready to. If you are a very driven person, your Advancy career progression is in your hands, and you can really shape your own career development here.

MC: Japheth Mast
I love that. It sounds like you're not likely to get bored working at Advancy. It keeps you on your toes.

You mentioned a couple of the key traits – curiosity and drive. Is there anything else that has allowed you personally to grow so quickly at Advancy? Any traits, skills, or qualities?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
No, I really think curiosity is the biggest one. I just want to re-emphasize it because I think that is the key to everything else. If you're a curious person, that's what drives your will to learn new skills, to understand new industries, and to understand new problems. I really feel like that is the underlying driver of everything here.

Mentorship and Support at Advancy: Formal and Informal

MC: Japheth Mast
Harking back to the conversation around mentorship – you have both formal mentorship processes and more informal mentorship. What one tip to find and keep mentors inside consulting?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
That's a good question. Speaking from my experience at Advancy, you don't really have to look for a mentor when you join. You are directly assigned a mentor, which makes it a bit easier. I know it depends on the firm; sometimes you have to do coffee chats and figure out staffing and mentors on your own.

Here, we really try to make it as seamless as possible. As soon as you join, you get assigned someone so that you know you have this person you can go to if you have any questions or problems. You also get a budget that you can spend together – for example, to go to restaurants or do activities.

That was my experience. I didn't need to look for someone; I was already assigned someone, which made it very easy for me. I always had someone to go to if I had questions. That’s the more formal piece.

In terms of informal mentorship, again, because we're such a close office, it's not an active effort you have to make to keep mentorship. I really feel like all of the principals and partners here, over time, have become my mentors. I know I can walk to their offices at any time of the day if I have questions, even if I'm not on their projects, and I know they will answer.

So you have the assigned person as reassurance, but also, because we're all so close, over time you can really go up to anyone and ask questions.

Challenging Life Sciences Merger: A Transformative Consulting Project

MC: Japheth Mast
Let's talk a little bit about the work at the firm and your experience at Advancy. You mentioned that every project is a new client and new industry, and you've worked on a number of projects and industries across your time at Advancy.

Can you share an example of a project that pushed you outside of your comfort zone?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Of course. I think one that was a bit more on the challenging side for me was a deal that we worked on here in the life science space. It was challenging because it was, at the time, one of the biggest deals I had worked on. It was a very complex industry with a lot of moving pieces.

There was a lot I personally had to ramp up on at the same time, whether it was advanced technical modeling or coordinating with the global team at Advancy.

We had to coordinate across three continents to make sure everyone was aligned. We were working cross-functionally with our clients and different parts of their teams to stay aligned. There was just a lot to handle and it was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but also the project where I grew the most.

It really gave me a very good understanding of how deals at that scale come together. It was challenging, but to me it is one of my core memories here at Advancy. We had a lot of late nights where we were laughing and having fun. We had a great team, and I made very close friends on that project.

MC: Japheth Mast
Sounds like a transformative time and maybe speaks to the fact that the more you get out of your comfort zone, the more you grow.

Can you share a little bit more about that specific project to bring some color to it? You mentioned cross-office collaboration. Tell us more about that – how many people were on your team, how the flow of the project worked, and how long it was.

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
We were working across a team in the US, a team in Europe, and a team in Asia because it was a global company. Here in New York we were at least six total

It ended up being a longer project because we were doing multiple phases, so it lasted a couple of weeks per phase over an extended period. There were multiple aspects to it. We had to understand the market, modeling and forecasting it in a very detailed way.

We needed a very granular understanding of the competitive landscape, by country, by product, by application. Then we had to build a very detailed business plan for the company, looking at how it would grow in the future and identifying new paths of growth.

International Culture, Global Collaboration, and Office Transfers

MC: Japheth Mast
Amazing. I appreciate that additional detail. How common is that cross-office collaboration? And going a step deeper, how common are cross-office transfers – say if you wanted to spend a year in Paris or Frankfurt?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think this is something we really try to encourage. If you come into the New York office at any time, you'll always find some people that are transferring or doing a short exchange, whether they're coming from the London office, our Paris office, or our Sydney office.

We encourage it both ways. If someone in New York wants to do a six-month exchange in Europe or anywhere else, that's also something we really try to support. So I would say it's very common. If you come to our office, you'll see there are always a couple of people coming from one of our other offices at any given time.

MC: Japheth Mast
I love that – a very international culture at the firm.

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Absolutely. I think that's one of the biggest parts of our culture here in New York. We really thrive on the diversity we have, whether it's with our New York employees or people from other offices always in and out. That's a very big part of our culture.

Skill Building at Advancy: Technical, People, and Leadership Skills

MC: Japheth Mast
Last question about this project and then we'll move on. Did you have any specific light bulb moments that you could share – maybe a story when something clicked for you or a memorable moment with the client or team?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi

When I look back at it and I look at the deliverable that we made, I'm really impressed. .” So I wouldn't say there was a single light bulb moment. It was very consistent work every day.

MC: Japheth Mast
It's always a good sign when you look back at your work and you're impressed – “How did we do that?”

You mentioned some really technical modeling you did. Obviously there are technical skills required to succeed in consulting, as well as leadership skills, people skills, communication, and so on.

Can you talk about how Advancy has supported you in building those skills?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think in any consulting firm, and maybe more specifically at Advancy, the learning curve is very steep. But what is really important is that I’ve never felt like I was thrown in the deep end without any support to learn a new skill by myself. That has never happened.

The way it works is that usually, before learning any type of skill – whether it's doing a slide or a model – you are always shadowing someone. You're paired up with someone on a project and you'll watch that person do the model or build slides themselves for a couple of projects. Then you will try it on your own, but you'll still have someone supervising you the whole time.

It's a long process of first shadowing someone, then doing it with support, until you eventually own it. That's how it works for everything – learning how to do a model, make a slide, present to a client, or manage teams. You always do it on a smaller scale first, watching someone, then doing it with help, and then gradually getting full ownership.

So it is steep, but it's very structured. That makes a big difference because it doesn’t seem as difficult; you really feel like you're slowly learning things.

Unexpected Consulting Skills: People Management and Client Relationships

MC: Japheth Mast
Steep learning, but you're not just thrown in the deep end and left to flounder there. I think that apprenticeship model is the most effective way to learn.

What's an unexpected skill that you've gained from consulting?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think when I joined, I really thought that the majority of the skills I would get would be hard skills. I joined telling myself, “I want to learn how to do complicated Excel work. I want to build slides quickly,” and a lot of the hard skills you think about in consulting.

But at the end of the day, I feel like the people aspect and people management – especially in the last years for me – has become a very big part of the job

On every project, you're working with a different team. Even if it's people you know, you're not always working with the exact same group. So you have new people to manage.

You're also working with different clients, and every client has their own way of thinking that you have to manage subtly. When I look back, it's really the people aspect that is the most challenging and also the skill that I've learned the most – managing people within our office and project teams, managing the client, and managing the experts we talk to for our projects.

MC: Japheth Mast
People management is one of the most underrated skills – it's hard to get far in consulting without it.

Why Advancy Is a Great Place to Build a Consulting Career

MC: Japheth Mast
Speaking to folks – either students interested in moving into consulting or experienced professionals looking to make a lateral move – you've shared a lot about Advancy and why you love it.

If you boil it down, what's the main reason you recommend Advancy as a great place to build a career?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I would say because the projects are a couple of weeks long, you really get a very wide range of exposure to industries and project types. So if you're a very curious person and you want to learn a lot about many industries in a short time, this is the best place to be.

You're also trusted with very meaningful work very early on and you get responsibilities early. That was very important to me. As I was saying, you really get to shape your own growth and Advancy career progression.

It's very flexible in the sense that if you're a very driven person and you're performing well, there's no real ceiling in terms of promotion. It's not that you have to wait a specific amount of time for every step. It's fully driven by you and your performance. You can take on as many responsibilities as you want.

And maybe the final aspect is the office culture we have. At the end of the day, that is the most important to me. I really feel like when I come to work, I'm happy to come to work. I feel like I have strong friendships here. I love talking to the people in the office, and that is really what makes me a happy person on a day-to-day basis.

MC: Japheth Mast
I can tell that you enjoy your work.

Global Offsites and Firm Culture: Advancy’s Mystery Trip

MC: Japheth Mast
Amazing. I know Advancy does a big trip every couple of years, a big offsite. Can you tell us your favorite offsite and maybe one fun moment from that? It's pretty rare for a company to fly out all of its people to one place.

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Yes, absolutely. For sure, my favorite is the last one that we had. We first flew to Paris, where we spent a week with everyone from all over the world. It was really nice to meet everyone in person.

Then there was a plane chartered with an unknown destination. We did not know where we were going. None of us knew. You would just get on the plane and you didn't know where it was going until you landed. It was a mysterious destination game.

That was definitely the highlight. I had never had the experience of getting on a plane with no idea where you might be going. You're just guessing the whole flight until you arrive – and even then you’re still looking around and trying to guess where you landed.

We ended up in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was a very fun experience trying to guess where we were.

MC: Japheth Mast
That's amazing. Such a fun tradition – one of my favorite things to tell candidates about.

Advancy’s Value Proposition: Scientific Rigor Meets Strategy

MC: Japheth Mast
Last question here before we get to a few personal questions.

Say you're speaking to a potential client – give your pitch for Advancy. What do you think makes Advancy stand out in the world of strategy consulting?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I think what really makes Advancy stand out is the depth and rigor that we bring to our strategy work. We have a very strong legacy of scientific expertise.

We apply that across all of the industries we cover, whether it's chemicals, industrials, food, consumer goods, or life sciences. We bring the same scientific expertise and approach. That is a big differentiator because our recommendations are always grounded in a very deep technical understanding of the product, a deep understanding of the processes, and a deep understanding of the market the client operates in.

So it's not just high-level strategic recommendations.

MC: Japheth Mast
Love that – blending the scientific with business and strategy to create a better product. Beautiful.

Getting to Know Fatine: Soccer, Central Park, and Secret Talents

MC: Japheth Mast
Well, Fatine, it's been great to get to know your journey here, but I'd love to get to know you a little bit more on the personal side of things. Three questions for you.

Number one, if you could work on a consulting project for any company, any client in the world – just for fun – what would it be?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Very fun question. I actually had never thought about it. I come from a family of very, very big die-hard soccer fans. I was really raised in that.

So I would probably say a soccer team. Not necessarily just on the business side, but imagining applying strategy frameworks to the actual game itself: what is the optimized lineup, the tactics, the transfers, all of it.

I cannot name any specific club because I don't want to ruffle feathers. My family has very strong opinions, and I don't want to upset anyone, but definitely in the soccer world.

MC: Japheth Mast
Fair enough. That's such a fun answer. I love that.

What's your go-to way to recharge when you're not at work?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I know it sounds very cliché for anyone that lives in New York, but to me, even after almost five years living here, it's really walking in Central Park. Every time I go there, I still feel the same effect as if it's the first time.

You're stepping in and you don't feel like you're in New York City anymore. You still see the skyline in the background, so you're reminded you're in the middle of the city, but it feels so calm. Everyone around you seems very at peace, just enjoying their day.

It feels both super calm and also reminds you you're in a very lively city. I never get tired of it. Our office is very close by, so sometimes I go just to recharge in the middle of the day or on the weekends. Central Park is my go-to whenever I feel a bit overwhelmed by the city.

MC: Japheth Mast
I love that. Central Park is a gem, and a bonus that it's close to the office.

Last question. What is your hidden secret talent?

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
I'm trying to think of what people around me would say. Maybe they would say orientation.

When I travel with my family or friends, I always end up as the guide. I feel like I lock places visually into my memory as soon as I see them, so I can always find my way back – whether we're lost in a city or trying to find our parking place. I always find it.

It's kind of a running joke that every time I'm traveling with anyone, they don't bother looking at directions anymore. I'm just the person guiding everyone.

MC: Japheth Mast
That's an underrated skill. It's more and more rare to find that in the age of technology.

Fatine, I really appreciate your time today and look forward to introducing more folks to Advancy through your story. I appreciate your time.

Advancy: Fatine Cherradi
Thank you, it was a pleasure.

Conclusion

Fatine’s Advancy career progression highlights what’s possible at Advancy when early responsibility, rigorous strategy work, and a strong culture come together. From rapid skill development to global exposure and meaningful mentorship, her story shows how driven, curious consultants can shape both their own careers and the future of a growing firm.

For candidates looking to build fast, learn deeply, and enjoy the people they work with along the way, Advancy offers a compelling path forward. Click here to explore current openings at the firm. Not sure how to navigate the case interview process? See how our team can help.