Paul Meehan - AGSM Advisory Council Member

AUTHOR: Editor   DATE: 30.11.04   ISSUE 3, 2004
“We’ve had some great talent come out of the school. It's one of our key recruiting grounds and in the top rank of schools we look at.”

Paul Meehan, who heads Bain International’s Australian operation, says hosting a breakfast for AGSM students was a good opportunity to meet the students away from the high pressure atmosphere of a job interview.

“AGSM is one of our priority recruiting schools.”
Photo: Paul Meehan

“The AGSM is one of our priority recruiting schools, and for that reason its obviously very important to us, but we don’t often get the opportunity to engage with students in a more relaxed environment,” says Meehan, who joined the AGSM’s Advisory Council this year.

“Our interactions with the students are most often highly structured, and revolve around recruiting, so it was a nice change and a good way to break down the barriers.”

Meehan recently hosted a breakfast attended by a dozen MBA students, and instead of talking about job opportunities at Bain, his theme was more about personal journeys.

“I was joined by some colleagues who are AGSM alumni and we talked a little about ourselves, and what we’d done with our business careers,” he said.

“We thought that if we tried to put the personal career path into some kind of context it might be relevant.

“It did spark interest, it went very well.”

Later this year, Bain will begin its annual recruitment process, which begins with a presentation of the company’s ‘value proposition.’

This commences a process of reviewing resumes and interviewing which traditionally results in up to three AGSM graduates being hired by the company, although Paul Meehan says there is never any target number before the process begins.

“It’s all based on merit – if we see outstanding candidates we hire them,” he says.

“This year we’ll be stressing opportunities in the region, not just in Australia but also in China, where we are building up our practice.”

Of his role on the Advisory Council, Meehan says it’s an ideal way to build stronger connections between the school and the business world, where many of the students will make their careers.

“What I admire about the Dean is that he really is trying to build those connections, and open up the school’s agenda to strategic challenges,” says Meehan.

“We’ve had some great talent come out of the school. Its one of our key recruiting grounds and in the top rank of schools we look at.”

Irish-born and educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Paul Meehan has had more than ten years experience with Bain in Australia.

With four children “who are all Aussies,” he says he’s happy to call Sydney home.

“Professionally, its also an exciting place with great exposure to big challenges with clients,” he says.