GCC Bridge

The GCC Bridge program is a remarkable initiative that unites groups of graduate students and postdocs from diverse fields to collaborate in teams, addressing real-world business challenges faced by startups and NGOs. In just 9 weeks, the participants complete a pro bono consulting project, from the first meeting with the client to the final recommendation pitch.

At the beginning of the program, the consultants attend a week-long bootcamp where they attend workshops to sharpen their essential consulting skills and meet the client to establish the project objectives. The remaining 8 weeks of the program are divided into multiple phases, with short-term deliverables to be presented at client meetings scheduled at the end of each phase.

The Bridge program is designed to emphasize learning through practice, allowing consultants to acquire valuable problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills while working collaboratively with a team. Team leaders and project managers receive support and mentorship from GCC alumni and an oversight committee, empowering them to develop their leadership capabilities and achieve success.

Overall, the GCC Bridge program provides an unparalleled opportunity for graduate students and postdocs to gain practical consulting experience, develop key skills, and make a positive impact in the world by contributing to the success of startups and NGOs.

We previously provided consulting services to Scailyte, Mirai Foods, PXL Vision, Carvolution, Caru, Room to Read, Telejob, Deep Breath Initiative, BLP Digital, ImpactHub Zürich, Swiss Red Cross, Engineers Without Borders, Yamo, Insolight, Cortical.io, CareerFairy and others.

 

Spring 2025 Edition

The Spring 2025 edition of Bridge will start on 3 March 2025.

Apply here for a consultant position and apply here for a leadership position (team leader/project manager).

Deadline for the application : 24 February 2025, 23:59 Hrs (leadership applications are due 1 week earlier, on 17 February).

 

Testimonials

  • “If you want to discover how it feels to consult a real client and at the same time meet other people who are also interested in consulting, the GCC Consulting program is perfect. I gained a lot of consulting experience, could directly discuss our proposals with the client and train my skills thanks to tailored feedback sessions. It’s a truly long-lasting learning opportunity, which goes far beyond a single consulting workshop.”
    — Hannes Hofmann, PhD student at ETH Zurich, participated in the Spring 2020 edition with ImpactHub Zurich
  • “Being a team leader for GCC Consulting was a really fun and valuable experience. I enjoyed working with my team to find the best approaches to solving the challenges presented by our client each week. Through the interactions with my team, I significantly improved my leadership capabilities. The weekly meetings with our client also provided an amazing opportunity for me to learn and hone my business presentation and communication skills. I think participating in GCC Consulting is an absolute must for anyone considering a career in consulting, as it gives you a realistic view of how consulting projects actually are. Working in consulting can be quite different than the impression one might get from just practicing and studying cases, and it’s overall a really unique and worthwhile opportunity.”
    — Tom Osborn Popp, Postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, participated in the Spring 2020 Edition with BLP Digital

FAQ

Who can join?

If you attended or are affiliated with a Swiss university and have an interest in solving a real-world business problem for one of our clients, we invite you to join the Bridge program. We particularly encourage students with a non-business background to apply and expand their knowledge.

To sign up for Bridge, you need to have requested membership from the Graduate Consulting Club. You can do so on our membership page. As soon as you create the account, you can use the links above to submit your application.

When does the program take place?

In general the Bridge program starts on the Monday of the third week of each semester, and lasts 8 to 9 weeks. Specific dates for the next edition can be found above, on this page.

Where does the program take place?

The program mostly takes place on ETH Zurich campus (for the kickoff/wrap up/Apéro/workshops). Virtual participation is possible in principle, but is not recommended as the collaboration and netorking are a major part of the Bridge experience.

Do I need previous consulting experience to participate?

No previous consulting experience is required to participate in Bridge. The program is a learning experience and an introduction to consulting for all members, regardless of their past experiences. However, we do encourage our previous Bridge participants to apply for a leadership position to enhance your consulting experience.

How are participants selected?

Participants will be selected based on experience, motivation, and commitment. While we may consider preferences for a particular project/role and notable skills/experiences for the staffing of our teams, we foremost want to offer a learning platform to our participants. Previous Bridge participants with a recommendation from their Team leader/Project managers have priority for leadership positions.

How are teams selected?

The teams will be composed on the basis of experience, background and project preferences. While we try to account for preferences of the applicants wherever possible, we cannot guarantee them. This also holds true for the combination of applicants that wish to work together in the same team.

Which position should you apply to?

Every project team consists of up to 20 people, which are further broken down into teams of approx. 5 people.

The project manager oversees the entire project, steers the team of 15 - 20 consultants, and acts as the liaison between team leaders and the client. Consulting experience advantageous.

Team leader leads a small team of approx. 5 people, distributes the individual tasks and acts as the liaison between the consultants and the project manager. Leadership experience advantageous.

Consultants conduct research, analyze data and synthesise results in teams of 4-5. This role is not client facing and is perfect for participants who would like to experience working on a consulting project with lower responsibilities.

If you are interested in both consultant and leadership roles, please apply for a leadership position only. We will evaluate you for both positions.

Who organizes Bridge?

The organization of Bridge is coordinated by the head of consulting services in conjunction with the other memnbers of the board of the Graduate Consulting Club. The core oversight team also consists of the President of the GCC, and often one other board member.

 

Key Facts

Next edition: Spring 2025

Tentative start day: 03 March 2025

Duration: 9 weeks

Estimated workload:

6-8 hours / week (consultants)

8-10 hours / week (team leader or project manager)

 

Questions?

Contact our head of consulting services, Nathan Khosla, at nathan.khosla@graduateconsultingclub.org .

 

For Clients

Who can I talk to about participating?

Reach out to GCC board member Nathan Khosla at nathan.khosla@graduateconsultingclub.org.

Can my organization participate?

As one of our core organizational aims to to provide real-world consulting experience for Swiss students, we prefer to work with Swiss startups (spin-offs of ETH Zürich, EPFL, etc), large companies with significant presence in Switzerland, and NGOs. However, we are willing to take on any interesting project which serves to give students consulting expereince. Please reach out to Nathan Khosla at nathan.khosla@graduateconsultingclub.org to discuss your needs.

What are the participation fees?

No monetary compensation is expected from the client for the pro bono consulting services. However, depending on the client's preference, we could organize networking/social event with the participants of the Bridge program and ask for reimbursement for such an event.