For Oumaima Achataoui, you really do learn something new every day.

Our newest Client Partnerships Associate is combining the final few months of her university degree at IE University in Spain with the first steps of her professional career.

Rather than waiting until May to join us, yoga fan Oumaima is making the most of her flexible schedule to get up to speed with life at Hyphen – which she hopes will make maximum impact both for us and our clients.

With a keen interest in consulting and international relations and with a variety of work experience acquired while studying, she is just the person to add quality, energy and capacity to our A-team.

In her welcome Q&A, Oumaima talks about:

• Why Hyphen offers the right blend of experiences as she starts her new career.
• What she has already learned about the company – and what has surprised her.
• How her careers advisor used another member of her team to put Hyphen on her jobs radar.

Hyphen: What inspired you to apply for this role?

Oumaima: I was talking to my career advisor at IE and they said there’s a company that does exactly what I was looking for, which is Hyphen. The advisor also mentioned that someone who went to IE works there – Rusa – and that it was going well so suggested I check it out.

Fortunately, there was an open position so I applied and directly contacted Dora in HR on LinkedIn, and we set a meeting and then it was on to doing some interviews, so it was quite quick.

I had never met Rusa before because IE is a pretty big university, but I reached out to her on LinkedIn, and I asked about the process in general. She gave me some friendly tips and told me about the company, how it works, etc.

As we are both based in Madrid, we might look into a co-working situation – it’s really nice to have someone in the same geography.

Hyphen: Thinking about your role, what are the things that you are most looking forward to?

Oumaima: What really caught my attention is the fact that you’re working on the intersection of a lot of domains that interest me.

I’ve always wanted to work in consultancy but I’ve never really wanted to do it in a strictly corporate business sense. I really wanted to mix it with international relations, because I studied that as well, so I would be interested in working with governments, if possible.

Getting to know more about working in the Middle East is also something I’m really interested in. I’ve been looking for opportunities like these for a while and I’m keen to learn more about other aspects like the working culture and the lifestyle.

I feel like it’s going to be an interesting journey to work remotely, so there are a lot of positives about working, learning and growing with Hyphen.

Hyphen: Have you spoken with any of the senior leaders you met through the recruitment process about some of the types of work our team does?

Oumaima: Yes, I was really interested when Michael, one of the Co-Founders, told me about a foreign aid project Hyphen has been working on. Studying international relations, I find foreign aid to be one of the most interesting topics. There are different perspectives – many assume foreign aid is always good because it’s meant to help, but it needs to be implemented in a way that involves communities effectively.

At university, we discussed the ethics of foreign aid for years, and it’s something I’m passionate about. As a Moroccan, I’ve seen firsthand the effects of foreign aid, so If I ever get the chance to work on that, it would be something meaningful to me and it would also push me outside my comfort zone to some extent.

They also mentioned working on many projects in the Middle East and I think I could be a great asset if they need someone who speaks Arabic or understands cultural nuances. Michael also emphasised that newcomers are given significant responsibilities from the start, which I would love to experience as I’m always open to new challenges, so I’m excited about the prospect of getting started.

Hyphen: Are there any particular skills you are keen to develop?

Oumaima: I’ll need to learn how to use some of the technical tools first, but I tend to pick things up quite quickly. One of the cases I worked on during my recruitment was based on a real-life example, so it was good to have already explored real-world implementation.

A key takeaway from my case exercise was the need to be extremely specific, and every proposal I made was met with detailed follow-up questions, ensuring realism and depth, so I know that that level of precision is likely going to be central to my role.

Hyphen: You mentioned your desire to get involved in consulting – what have you garnered from your previous experiences with Ocean Born and the two IE schools you worked for and your degree?

Oumaima: I’ve worked on several consulting projects, both professionally and during university, and it seemed to me that consulting is often seen as the default career for business students.

The more I did it, the more I realised that if you don’t share a vision with the client or they don’t fully understand your idea, the implementation can be frustrating. Even in university, I’ve experienced situations where my team had a well-thought-out proposal, but the client chose another direction.

I like the idea of being in an international environment but where I can also learn as much as possible and get hands-on experience. I know the learning curve with a company like Hyphen is going to be at least as steep – if not more so – than at a larger firm, where opportunities can be limited.

Hyphen is exactly what I was looking for, and I wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Hyphen: You’re working with us on a part-time basis before going full-time in May – how do you view this transition period, where you get to experience your future full-time role?

Oumaima: It’s really important. I wanted to start part-time to learn and get grounded in how things operate so that when summer comes, I won’t lose time adjusting. My degree has been five years long and this semester, I only have two classes and my thesis, so aside from that, I’m fully available for work. To be honest, I’m more excited to start working than to continue uni!

Hyphen: Since starting the recruitment process, you have met the three Co-Founders, Dora and Rusa – did you meet any of the other members of the team during the recruitment process? How was it getting that to meet the senior leadership at this stage?

Oumaima: Before meeting them, I was intimidated – I’m still a student and don’t usually interact with founders or people with such extensive experience.

I reminded myself that the interview was as much about me evaluating the company as them evaluating me. I asked many questions about culture, expectations for success, and what I could gain from the experience.

They were more approachable than I expected and one thing that stood out was how well they knew each other. They referred to each other on a personal level, and that kind of camaraderie isn’t something you can fake – it really caught my attention.

I have already spoken with others – Dora, Eleah and Rusa to name a few – and I felt like I had already made friendships before properly starting! I might be defending my thesis when the upcoming co-working retreat takes place but I should still be able to meet everyone that week, which will be great.

Hyphen: Let’s talk about life away from work – what do you like to do in your spare time?

Oumaima: I enjoy activities that help me stay balanced, like spending time in nature, especially near the ocean. I do a lot of yoga and pilates, and I used to do boxing but stopped due to a lack of nearby studios. Lately, I have joined a running club, too.

I’ve also been saying for a long time that I want to get my yoga instructor certification, but I haven’t started yet. Now that university is ending, I have no excuse! Also, my friends and I plan to finally learn surfing this summer – in Morocco, a lot of people surf, and my friends and I always say we’ll learn but never do, so hopefully, this time we will.