Today we took Olivier Gusching for a little “run”. The 44-year-old IT consultant who loves running in the wild and travelling to far off places accepted our challenge and revealed his thoughts and aspirations to all Primers out there.

Let’s begin with the traditional question Olivier. How long have you been with Prime Consulting Switzerland and how has it been?

I have been working in PrimeIT since February 2021. In Switzerland, PrimeIT has the advantage of the small structures with their proximity to the people and their informal way of doing things. I would personally underline the friendliness of the people working there.

11 years is a long time. What advice do you have for others who are looking for a long-lasting career?

Let’s be honest, you don’t choose 100% of what you do in your job. Sometimes, life takes you from left to right. The good news is that we work in a sector that offers a lot of opportunities -which are often inside your own company-, so the only advice that I would give here is to take it in hand.

You started as a java developer and now you’re a project manager. What did it take for you to evolve from one area to the other?

I like to be in contact with others and have a nice work atmosphere. I also enjoy keeping an overall view of things and being able to address several matters a day. Project management was a natural impulse for me.

So far, what has been your favourite project and why?

My favourite project is not one that I personally steered. I once had the opportunity to work on a huge project for the European Commission involving all the European member states. It was thorough and hard but also exciting. It felt like an Erasmus atmosphere in a work context.

You mentioned photography was a hobby for you. What would you consider a “picture perfect” future, career-wise?

I recently landed on a client that suits me, and I’d like to work for them for a while. As I previously said, I personally enjoy contact with people, and I also like the diversity of activities that a consulting company offers through finding bespoke solutions for customer-specific matters. To that extent, I wouldn’t say no to taking part in such matters, and even in some management activities if the opportunity pops up.

When you’re running in the forest your mind surely wanders. What tools do you use to stay focused during work?

That’s not always easy in my job and, like all others project managers, I had to learn to handle context switching. During those stressful days, I try to establish a daily to-do list and stick to it.