Some Accenture Thoughts

I attended an Accn final round for BSI yesterday and just wanted to share a few of my thoughts. I did have my heart set on getting this job but got sent an email saying I was unsuccessful. I opened my eyes to a few things during the assessment centre that made me think a little:

(1) I applied in May 2007 and first available start date currently available is Jan 2008. Be aware that from app to actually starting could be the best part of a year.

(2) Don’t be fooled by the £10,000 sign on bonus. What this really means is you get a salary of 34.5K in year 1 and 32.K in year 2. It is paid in 2 instalments. My first reaction seeing this bonus was I’d have 10K in my bank. The reality is very different esp after tax and how it is spread.

(3) There are no further pay rises, bonuses, overtime payments (ever!) until you reach consultant level. This takes a min of 2 years and promotions only happen in September. If you join in eg November 07 you wouldn’t be eligible for promotion until September 2010. That’s a long time with no pay rise!

(4) I get the impression ACN hire a LOT of staff. I was offered 6 different slots in May for a final assessment centre. Each one had 8 candidates. My gut feeling says it might be difficult to be noticed in such a massive organisation.

(5) I didn’t really get a “personal” feel about ACN at all. Just seem like they were just getting the next staff onto never ending conveyer belt. Felt like just another applicant.

(6) 30 days holidays – can’t get better anywhere else I don’t think!

(7) We got to speak to some analysts who had recently joined ACCN. Few comments were none of them got their preferred operating group choice, they work on Avg 9am – 7:30pm every night, they’ve spent a lot of their time doing very dull work, testing, testing and more testing and the 1st project they are on will last a min of 12 months. Another point is they completed 7 weeks of training but after 8 months have yet to use any of the training provided!

(8) I got sent a 2 line email saying I had not been offered a job. That kind of tells its own story that they recruit so many people and each applicant is just another number they don’t have the time/will to respond a bit more professionally. Most companies invite you to a final round assessment centre will phone you up and provide feedback not send an automated email. So unprofessional I think.

Despite what is a long list of negatives I did want the job. Would have looked great on the CV and career opportunities.

Just thought I’d share some of my thoughts for those who were interested.

I concur with absolutely everthing in that comprehensive post. It is a common experience.

Try EY BAS - most failed Accenturites and IBM-ers end up there

Pay will not be a whole lot better though ...

Hey

I thought I'd add my thoughts. It's good to get both sides of the coin.

1) This may be true, but on the plus side, and should you wish to do it, it gives you the opportunity to undertake some travel etc, safe in the knowledge that you have a job to come back to.

2) I doubt many people are fooled into thinking that the bonus is tax free. If you are dazzled by the money, then perhaps you're applying for the wrong reasons. The reality of most salaries is very different after tax

3) We do have a promotion round in March

4) You will find similar in many large organisations. However the reality of projects is that you may be on a large team, you may be on a small team. However I have never found it difficult to get "noticed". If you shine at what you do, you will be noticed

5) For a large company, with so many new joiners, you may feel like this in the recruitment process. Personally I "clicked" and felt like I belonged - this is really about personal perception i think

6) This is true and one of the best benefits we have

7) As with any job - and especially in consulting - you won't be briefing Senior Execs on Day 1. The flip side is that what may appear to be "mundane" work gives you a fantastic opportunity to get a good grounding in the "hot" skills - e.g. SAP.

8) You would find similar in most large organisations.

I'm sorry you weren't successful - wish you the best of luck in your job hunt.

Cheers

Rob

Is it not true that you get promoted to senior analyst for 4k extra after a while?

Most of the work analysts do anywhere isn't that exctiting.

Do you think you'll be going in on day 1 and sitting the CEO of Shell down and telling him what's what?

My thoughts on Acn having been here a while.

Salary/bonus - it's good, it's industry standard, the less money after 1 year is a little odd but either way it's in line with competitors.

Hours - 9-7.30 i thnik you will find would be fairly standard across most ocnsulting orgs. for the record i start at 8 and finish at 6 which offers a good work/life balance.

If you get stuck on a project doing something you don't want/uninteresting etc. for ages do something about it, network, speak to hr and get on something you do want. You have to really be dtermined to get what you want.

As for promotion, who cares, do your 2 years, and leave like everyone else.

Like many others I left Accenture recently after 4 years there and would like to say that your observations are pretty accurate...

A few comments from my perspective:

Don't fall for the brand! If you want to work at an outsource company, body shopped out for 2/3/4 yrs ACN is a great place to be. If you want to be a consultant and learn consultancy skills, look elsewhere. The Accenture name doesn't count for as much as in the past - it will be noticed on a CV but employers are far more interested in your skillset. ACNers have a reputation for having a narrow skillset, most of them having spent far too much time on small (relatively insignificant) roles within massive projects.

Don't go to Accenture for the money. After 4 yrs there most of my contempories at other companies (in comparable service industry jobs) were earning more than me. And, perhaps more importantly, had the potential to earn a lot more.

It is a huge company...prepare become a number and lose control of your career (I think the analysts you spoke to are representative of my experience).

Training is generally not recognised outside the firm. e.g. Accenture have their own methodologies for PM and enterprise architecture but you'll struggle to find a PMP or TOGAF certification. Obviously, importance of this depends on where you hope your career to go and how important relevant training and certification is...

Having said all that I think some people, if they fall the right way, have a great career there and love it (but I think they're quite rare....).

Personally, having moved to another (smaller) company, I've found it to be more meritocratic where your efforts do get recognised, training is industry standard, and projects are shorter, more interesting and more strategic.

yay, absolutely accurate statement.

another positive aspect would be the international enviroment you would work in mostly....if you are good there is a chance to get a role on a truely european project after a year or so.

but anyway, be prepared, accenture is about managing and executing massive IT transformation programs...we are good at doing that compared to others, but this also implies that everybody has to play their part. this might work out great for the company and the real managing people, for the "staff" it can for sure be frustrating sometimes.

one last advice: you can have a great career within ACN if you push for it and prove yourself, but it´s up to you. nobody will look after you if you don´t do.

when you enter, be sure you have the right expectations.

So let me get this straight. Go to Accenture and whether I have the career I want or not will be a lottery?

Listen. You'll will have to put *effort* into it. It will not be given to you on a plate. You will not be spoon-fed. Mummy and Daddy can't write a cheque and guarantee success for you.

Get the picture yet?

Jesus - grads nowadays are so pampered!

Everyone says you should do a few years at accenture to move onto bigger and better things.

How much more could one realistically expect to earn leaving Accenture after say 2 or 5 years even? Obviously theres more than money to it but i'd be interested to know.

where do all these people go after they leave accenture???

to BAS

Chuckle. So true.

does BAS have good working hours and decent pay?

I recently had an interview at ACN.

I didn't understand a question, so I asked her to rephrase it.

She proceeded to repeat exactly what she had said, but more slowly and louder.

That's when I realised she was an idiot. I guess it affected the rest of the interview as I wasn't called back.

LOL - ahh that me chuckle - you should of just thrown something at her. silly moo.