Accenture

WetFeet Insider Guide

2005 Edition

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Insider Guide

Accenture
2005 Edition

Helping you make smarter career decisions.

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Accenture
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Table of Contents
Accenture at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Bottom Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Industry Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Organization of the Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

On the Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Analysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Lifestyle and Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Workplace Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Vacation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Career Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Insider Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Getting Hired. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Recruiting Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Interviewing Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

For Your Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 For Further Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Et Cetera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

At a Glance

Accenture at a Glance
Headquarters
Accenture is incorporated in Bermuda and does not have a fixed headquarters, though the center of power is expected to shift slightly toward the Boston area when its new CEO takes the helm. It has offices in more than three dozen U.S. cities. Accentures recruiting function is based in its New York office: 1345 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10105 Phone: 917-452-4400 Fax: 917-527-9915 www.accenture.com

Primary Competitors
IBM, EDS, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Computer Sciences Corp., McKinsey & Company

Key Differentiating Factors

Accenture has about 95,000 employees in 48 countries. Accenture provides everything from hard-core technology support and toplevel strategic advice to outsourcing and human resources. The firm has a strong, young, and innovation-oriented culture.

In the Recruiters Words

From a campus standpoint, we really look for people with a broad and diverse set of experiencescomputer science, management information systems, economics, even through liberal arts. Hiring has definitely increased from fiscal year 2003. With our market picking up with the economy, thats had ripple effects. Come to the interview with several substantial and recent stories in mind, ones which you believe demonstrate your interpersonal strengths, analytical prowess, and ability to overcome challenges.

At a Glance

What Insiders Say

In the interview, I was asked how you handle team problems, individuals who dont work, people who miscommunicate. It was easy but you have to be honest. Its very different from working in a traditional position, because youre working on a project. It focuses you.

Career Ladder
Accenture employees follow a defined career path with set milestones. New employees move from analyst, to consultant, to manager, to senior manager, and in some cases, to associate partner and partner. IT employees work as programmers before moving into system analyst positions, and then in some cases, into manager roles. Undergrads who join the firm as analysts can generally move to the consultant level in 2 to 3 years. Undergrads entering into strategy start as business analysts and may leave to go to business school after 3 or 4 years. Midcareer hires join at almost any level, depending on their programming or industry experience.

Hiring Estimates
Accenture is hiring 30,000 people worldwide for its fiscal year ending August 31, 2004. About 8,000 of those positions are in the United States, and of those, 1,600 to 1,800 are likely to be new analysts that have just graduated or have a few years of experience.

At a Glance

Estimated Compensation, 2004

Undergrad Hires
Starting salary: Signing bonus: Relocation bonus: $38,00055,000 not usually depends on need

MBA Hires
Starting salary: Signing bonus: Relocation bonus: $60,000100,000; a lot depends on work experience $10,00015,000 depends on need

Midcareer Hires
Starting salary: Signing bonus: Relocation bonus:
Source: WetFeet estimates; Accenture does not release compensation data.

$40,000100,000 $030,000 depending on experience depends on need

The Company
Overview The Bottom Line Industry Position Organization of the Firm

The Company
5

Overview
The Company
Accenture has made a name for itself as one of the worlds leading management consulting and technology services companies. Formally established in 1989 by a group of partners from the consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms around the world, Accenture began life as Andersen Consulting. From its establishment until its incorporation in 2001, the company operated as a group of more than 40 locally owned partnerships in 40-plus countries. Some things have certainly changed since 1989: Arthur Andersen is no more, the Internet boom has come and gone, and Andersen Consulting became Accenture and went public. But theres one thing thats stayed the same: The company is still focused on delivering top-notch consulting and technology services to organizations all over the world. Today, Accenture is a consulting behemoth with 95,000 employees toiling away in 110 offices in 48 countries. The companys traditional stronghold is systems integration, but it also lays claim to formidable strategy, technology consulting, human resources, and outsourcing practices. Accentures deep client roster is a veritable whos who list, one that straddles a multitude of industries; in addition to a sizeable percentage of Fortune 500 companies, Accenture also consults to a wide range of governmental and nonprofit organizations. Scoring massive projects with high-profile organizations is the name of the game at Accenture. It made headlines in June 2004 when an alliance led by Accenture won a Homeland Security Department contract worth up to $10 billion. Of course, the sputtering economy hit consulting companies hard, and Accenture was no exception. In fact, as one of the few public consulting firms, it is particularly sensitive to trends in the economy. For the first few years of this

decade, it introduced successive waves of layoffs and slowed down its recruiting efforts. Employees worked longer and networked harder to make sure they wouldnt find themselves unstaffed, or without a project and thus more vulnerable to getting laid off, for too long. Says one insider, In the bad times, you get a sense of your internal worth. The best people, in theory, wouldnt ever be available for a project because if youre out there networking, youll never be unstaffed. Since mid-2003, insiders report that the mood has

Accenture can be a great place to have a careeryoull have the resources and clout of a huge company behind youbut its not for everyone.

The Company

changed. The firm has turned the taps back on, for new hires, says an insider, and skilled analysts and consultants again find themselves in demand for projects. Increased hiring stems directly from a rebound in the economy and, in particular, the industry sectors Accenture serves. Communications and technology, financial services, products (companies ranging from health care to travel services), and resources are all growing at double-digit rates. For its 2004 fiscal year, the company expects net revenue to rise 15 to 16 percent, up from 2 percent in 2003. When corporations slashed their spending budgets during the downturn, contracts with government agencies helped. They continue to buoy earnings. In the first 6 months of 2004, operating profits from its government sector made up 14.5 percent of total revenue. Meanwhile, its increasingly focused on outsourcing, taking over whole IT or human resources functions for clients. In the last year, Accenture has inked outsourcing deals with big firms such as Best Buy and Deutsche Bank. Outsourcing now contributes nearly 40 percent of total revenue. And in keeping with the trend rippling throughout the rest of Corporate America, its helping companies move some of their operations offshore.

With a brighter business outlook, some of the work strains seemed to have eased. People dont feel the need to put in extra overtime just to keep their job. But make no mistake, the work is demanding. And the firm attracts the kind of people who like to reach for high hurdles. One plus about working here is the

The Company

kind of personality traits you can pick uppeople here are at the top of their game, A-types, go-getters, says one insider. Accenture tries to keep things from getting too intense. It keeps open lines of communication between on-site employees and home-base operations through regular e-mails, team and industry-specific meetings, and local get-togethers. Everyone has a career counselor who works as the employees advocate when it comes to staffing. The company also commits a ton of resources to training, and passes on to its employees discounts on services, like cell phones, that come with being a big multinational firm. Its also got prestige: Accenture ranked first in its industry in Fortunes 2004 list of Americas Most Admired Companies. Due in part to its university recruitment, Accenture has a youthful collegiate environment in which employees have the energy to work hard as projects intensify as well as the chance to relax with each other and interact socially. Its not unusual for local offices or project teams to play softball or have dinner together. At work, insiders report a positive and cooperative environment. The atmosphere might get a little stiffer when promotions are being decided. But the ability to work well with ones colleagues is a point of pride at the firm. Theres a culture of sharing. If someone happens to be an expert in Java for instance, I feel I can pick up the phone even if Ive never talked to them before, and theyll feel an extensive obligation, an esprit de corp, to help me out, says an insider. As demanding as consulting can be, getting a job at Accenture can pose an even greater challenge. Whether youre an MBA or undergraduate, you should be ready to sell yourself.

The Bottom Line

The Company
Accentures employees are often technically specialized and also educationally diverse. Theyve joined the company because they want to get in on the diverse range of professional experiences consulting has to offer. Competition for jobs is intense. To be successful, candidates should try to demonstrate both team and leadership experiences that combine technical and consulting know-how. If you land a job, youll be in fairly good hands. The company is committed to training, and once youre ready to move on, just having the Accenture name on your resume will open doors.

Industry Position
The Company
Accenture is definitely one of the big kids on the consulting block. According to Consultants News 2004 ranking of the 75 Largest Consulting Firms in the World, for the second year in a row, Accenture ranks second only to IBM in global market share and consulting revenue. Few consulting firms offer as wide a range of services as Accenture. Its technology and process groups compete with top technical consulting firms such as IBM and EDS, its human performance competency goes head to head with HR consulting firms such as Hewitt, and its strategy group takes on strategy firms such as McKinsey and Deloitte.

10

20 Largest Consulting Firms, by 2003 Consulting Revenue

Rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Firm
IBM Accenture Deloitte Capgemini CSC BearingPoint Hewlett-Packard McKinsey & Co. Mercer SAP T-Systems Booz Allen Hamilton LogicaCMG Atos Origin Oracle Unisys Altran EDS TietoEnator Watson Wyatt Worldwide

The Company

Source: Excerpted and reprinted with permission of Consultants News June 2004; Consultants News/Kennedy Information, Peterborough, NH 03458 USA; phone: 800-531-0007; www.ConsultingCentral.com.

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Where MBAs Want to Work

Accenture doesnt have quite the cache among MBAs that the large strategy firms such as McKinsey and Bain do. But in 2004 it moved up two notches to

The Company

number 27, between PricewaterhouseCoopers and Lehman Brothers. The following ranking is a result of Universums 2004 survey of MBAs, who ranked the companies where they would most like to work.

Consulting Firms that Ranked in the Top 50

Rank
1 4 7 10 11 13 27

Firm
McKinsey & Co. IBM Bain & Co. Booz Allen Hamilton Deloitte Boston Consulting Group Accenture

Source: Based on a study by Universum, published in Fortune. Ann Harrington, Fortune, 4/19/2004.

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Organization of the Firm

The Company

View from the Top

Accenture is a public company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN. At the top of the organization sits CEO Joe Forehand and the executive committee of partners and officers who report directly to him, followed by numerous steering and operating committees. Though the firm has no fixed geographical headquarters, it has big offices in major U.S. cities such as Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.

View from the Middle

Accenture is organized into several partially overlapping industry areas that allow clients to choose from a smorgasbord of integrated consulting services. The company maintains five global operations groups: 1. Financial services 2. Government 3. Communications and high tech 4. Products 5. Resources

13

Nine service and solutions lines support the global operations groups: 1. Customer relationship management 2. Finance and performance management

The Company

3. Human performance 4. Strategy and business architecture 5. Supply chain management 6. Technology research and innovation 7. Technology solutions 8. Microsoft solutions 9. Outsourcing and infrastructure delivery Accentures five operating groups function as umbrella units for 18 separate industry areas and government services. The service lines are then broken down between business consulting or technology and outsourcing. Some of these groups could change by the time you get there; Accenture is continually shifting its organizational structure. Thats not surprising, given that its in the business of reorganizing companies and processes. If we ourselves arent changing, that means were stagnant, and were not a few steps ahead of the client, explains one insider. The tasks in the various service areas can vary widely. Customer relationship management, supply chain management, technology research, and technology solutions often involve more of the hard-core technology work. Members of the technology groups are more likely to work on-site for extended periods to implement new technology. The human performance group deals largely with the human resources and training issues that arise with technology work.

14

Strategy and business architecture, as well as finance and performance management, involve higher level consulting work to determine the clients business and technology needs. Employees in these service lines do often join engineering projects, but also handle a wide range of other related duties focusing on business process. Strategy

The Company

and business-architecture consultants work at the highest levels of projects and might come in early on in a project to do trends and industry analysis. They often get paid more (after all, strategy has to compete with Bain, BCG, Booz Allen, and the other big-name, big-dollar firms). One employee describes how various service roles overlap on a typical technology project: First comes requirement analysis, where consultants help define the scope and design of the project. Then we work on common components, putting together the technology architecture. Traininggathering training needs to use the systemfollows. Finally we build out the application, doing the detailed coding and user acceptance testing.

View from the Bottom

With Accentures senior executives selling the firms pricey services on the basis of its highly trained workers, the firm encourages newcomers to constantly expand their skill set. For your first few projects, youll probably hop around between service areas, building programming and business skills along the way. Although some folks like to think of themselves as industry generalists, most insiders say its preferable and easier to stick within one industry and gain some specialization. New analysts are encouraged to get a lot of different roles, because once people get to the 3- or 4-year mark, theyre starting to build up a resume that we use to sell them [to clients], says one insider. If you have 3 years of experience in something you dont really like, chances are youre not going to stick around.

15

Consultant teams do most of the work at the client site. These range from the small, paratroop-like squads of the strategy unit, consisting of two to five members, to massive mobilization units involving dozens to 100 or more folks from other service areas. Because of the nature of the work, Accenture project teams tend to be

The Company

larger and more bottom-heavy than those of rival consulting firms that do less systems work. Many projects have an organizational structure worthy of a small firm: a senior manager or partner responsible for the most high-level client interaction, followed several managers who are each responsible for a part of the project and supervise two or three teams each of analysts and consultants. Many analysts and consultants will have their own cubicle and workstation at the client site. If theyre locally based, they may report every day to that station, just like in an industry job. Strategy consultants and senior managers, who tend to be more mobile, often work out of a laptop and totes, or moveable storage containers. Moving from job to job, compounded by the size of Accenture, can be a strain. One insider describes the downside of working in consulting this way: Its so big, youre always changing clients, you never get a sense of belonging. Perhaps mindful of losing touch with its far-flung staff, Accenture has instituted activities that connect consultants outside of work. Some are as informal as dinners out. Others might be as time-consuming as teaching other consultants about a new programming language. In 1998, Accenture created market unitbased communities of 150 or so employees grouped by their location and industry practice. These communities meet quarterly in most cities to discuss everything from business to personnel issues. The ostensible purpose might be to hear a presentation by a resources consultant in Dallas. But they are really all about networking. Its to feel like you belong to the company, to not get overwhelmed by the fact that its a big, international firm, says one insider.

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On the Job
Analysts Consultants
On the Job
17

Analysts
Analysts at Accenture come into a market unit and the Core Analysts Program (CAP). After an initial 2-week training, when they might participate in a mock client engagement, they get staffed with an industry group. The CAP affords them the chance to develop core skills through plenty of training as well as onthe-job experience. We expect all analysts to go in and be information sponges. We want them to be learning how we work, soaking everything up, says one insider. After 12 to 18 months, they attend another round of training at Accentures campus in St. Charles, Illinois. We found that having the client experience earlier was very helpful for our new analysts, to get on-the-job training, said an insider in recruiting. Accentures business model revolves around throwing large numbers of people into big projects where they focus on implementation and execution work. With more seniority comes increased managerial responsibility, and ultimately, selling the firms business to new clients. But at the start, analysts are considered the pack mules of the consulting staff, says one insider. Youll do number crunching and heavy analysis . . . rather than the high-level thinkingthis is calculations, building models, analyzing data line by line.

On the Job
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Typical Responsibilities
Duties vary depending on the project, but insiders tell us that the first year typically involves the following types of tasks: Mapping business processes Gathering and analyzing client data Developing design parameters for projects Designing computer modules Interviewing client management and employees Writing computer code and configuring software (IT) Preparing user-training materials Implementing recommended changes at client site Developing training models

We expect all analysts to go in and be information sponges. We want them to be learning how we work, soaking everything up.

On the Job

Strategy
On the strategy side, Accenture hires a small number of undergrads into business analyst positions. People on strategy spend more time analyzing the industry, competitive analysis, identifying trends, valuation, economics, says one insider. Traditional consultants deal with processes from an operational standpointhow they run the business. Thats not to say sometimes the two dont bleed into one another. Heres a list of typical day-to-day tasks: Develop key performance metrics Conduct industry research Facilitate the flow of work units through their teams Discuss specific issues with in-house experts

19

 Assess existing technology Conduct market research Develop and maintain client relationships Perform benchmarking analysis Analyze current systems and problems Recommend new approaches Present findings to team members

A Day in the Life of a First-Year Analyst

8:30

On the Job

I get into the client site. While I take a few swigs of my coffee, I check e-mails I got from the client. First I glance to see whether any problems sprouted up overnight. Then I check the requests that piled up earlier in the week. Is there anything thats a must-do today? Finally I sift through my Accenture e-mails. Open Microsoft Word and figure out where I last left off on the documentation for the system were implementing. Its pretty long two-thirds to go. Well, no time like the present.

9:00

12:00 Its the managers birthday today, so the team heads out to lunch. Thank goodness, Im starved. 1:00 3:00 Back to the office. I dive back into the documentation. One page at a time . . . I nab a half-hour with one of the consultants when he gets out of meetings. Ive never done one of these documentation projects before, and I want to make sure Im on track. Is this what I should be doing here and here? He was really helpful with feedback. I keep working and make the necessary updates. Time for a status meeting with the rest of the team. Gives me a chance to stretch my legs. I walk over to another building on the corporate campus, where I meet up with my manager, the rest of the team, and some members of the client firm. We go over what everyones working on, ask questions about the project. Its a good way to get to know members of the team who work in different offices.

3:30 4:00

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5:00 6:00

My manager has a cube in both buildings, so I just stay at the other building and work on more detail analysis from his desk. Time to head out. But first, Ill stop by another consultants cubicle for an update on our projects softball team. They got the jerseys. But who decided we were the Mariners?

A Day in the Life of an Experienced Analyst

8:00 Arrive at client site. Spend 45 minutes checking client e-mails, voice mail, and Accenture e-mails. There are so many! Working with people in different time zones means my inbox really fills up when Im not here. Meet with the internal team to discuss any problems and what we need to get done today.

9:00

On the Job

10:30 Back to my desk to tackle my ongoing work for this project. This time, its mostly trends analysis and market research. 12:15 Time for lunch. That means walking down to the sandwich shop, grabbing something, and eating at a private table in the cornermy workstation. 1:00 Time to meet with the clients, who are right down the hall. We go over progress to date, discuss certain initiatives, make sure were on the same page. Back at my desk, working on deliverablesthe work well present to the client. If only I can concentrate on it for a few hours . . . Not so fast. My teammates have some questions about a technical aspect of the project they know Ive handled before. We talk and go over the problem. I might just have enough time to finish up the presentation before I leave. Now where was I? Im on track to meet this weeks deadline, so I leave earlier than usual. Tomorrows going to be a long day, so better take off while the goings good!

3:00 4:00

5:00 6:00

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Consultants
After a couple of years with the firm, Accentures undergraduate hires can become consultants. Consultants have many of the same day-to-day tasks as analysts, with one big exception: They manage a small team. After a few years at the firm, youd be in a supervisory capacityyoud be responsible for the output of three to five people, says one insider. Also at the consultant and manager levels are those advanced-degree holders

On the Job

(e.g., MBAs and/or CPAs, especially those in process and strategy) who are deemed ready to perform at this level. Many MBAs are also hired as experienced analysts, bringing them a year or two closer to the consultant position than a new analyst with just an undergraduate degree. Often MBAs go straight to the firms strategy unit. Says one insider in recruiting, Typically folks we target are completing degree programs with a strategy emphasis. They combine that with pretty significant work experience, and it gives them a nice package.

Typical Responsibilities
Lead project meetings Monitor and report on project status Lead presentations Interview vendors Supervise analysts Facilitate brainstorming sessions Conduct client interviews and workshops Assess existing technology and future needs

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 Develop acceptance criteria Oversee implementation of technical applications (IT) Develop and implement financial models Oversee training applications Conduct structure analysis

A Day in the Life of an IT Consultant

8:30 9:00 Arrive at the site. Check my e-mail to see if tests found any bugs over night. Yep, there are a few critters in this system. Meet with the tester to get more information about the bugs. Whats the impact? By when do we need to resolve them?

On the Job

10:00 Its a high-priority bug, so all hands on deck. I shove aside my other work and focus on clearing up this problem. 12:00 Almost there, but not quite. Still, I need refueling. I head for the elevator bank and grab a sandwich at the coffee shop downstairs. I read over any Accenture e-mails I might have glossed over while I munch through my lunch. 1:00 3:00 Work out the last kinks. There! Now I can shift my attention to new development and new features were considering for this project. Meet with clients and other Accenture consultants about some of the new features were planning. Its a good time to make sure were in touch with the clients needsand pick some of my colleagues smart brains. I start working on a proposal for one of these features, trying to distill what people want and what we can do. I check back with the client to make sure everythings OK with that earlier problem. Then Im back on our proposal. Time to head out. A bunch of folks from my last project are meeting to watch the game at 7:00 and Ive told them to save me a stool.

4:00 5:00 6:30

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A Day in the Life of a Strategy Consultant

7:30 Im at my computer, waiting for the aircon to kick in. I need to wrap up a PowerPoint presentation thats due this morning, so no time for chitchatting with clients over the coffee maker.

11:00 Finished! I click through the slides with my supervisor, and we go over the presentation. 11:30 She suggests an early lunch, to which I happily agree. Even if its a quick one. 12:00 We head over to the other building and find the conference room where well meet some of the client managers. We present the PowerPoint and answer any questions they have.

On the Job

2:00

The meeting wraps up and my supervisor and I head back to the other building. We usually have a post-mortem on big meetings. This time we discuss how the meeting went while we walk. Im back at my desk trying to tackle a bunch of other work thats piled up. I open up a spreadsheet but then . . . One of my teammates, a new analyst, has a question about the analysis hes responsible for. Ive done this twice in past projects, so I sit down with him and show him the ropes. Back to my desk and check to see how far Ive got on my file. Not so fast. Another colleague comes by with a different problem. I sit down with her, discuss what shes tried, and give her some advice. Its a tricky one, and we spend an hour trying to untangle it. Yikes. How did it get so late? I try to get at least half of this report done. I head for the door, but Ive got a laptop in hand. Ill have to wrap up this work tonight because my manager wants to see it tomorrow. Oh well, it was going to be quiet evening at the hotel anyway.

2:15 2:30

3:00 3:05

4:30 6:00

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The Workplace
Lifestyle and Hours Culture Workplace Diversity Compensation Travel
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Vacation Training Career Path Insider Scoop

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Lifestyle and Hours

Analysts and consultants should expect an active daily work schedule that gets filled up quickly with meetings, technical problem solving, and individual report work. Theres not a lot of down time: Insiders are continually responding to demands from managers, teammates, or clients. One insider estimates that consultants spend 20 to 50 percent of the day in meetings. When youre not interacting with the client or fixing bugs, youll try to squeeze in an hour to concentrate on analysis and documentation projects that may be assigned to you. Accenture folks often find themselves on deadline, as teams finish stages of the bigger project. There are some self-enforced and some very hard ones. Generally no one likes to delay a project. At the same time, if this doesnt get done, you dont like to move on to the next change, says one insider. Projects can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. Regardless of how

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short or long they are, projects operate in cycles. So consultants can expect to work longer hours and even some weekends when a big deadline looms. Its sort of like a college class schedule, says one insider. There are times when things are slow and chugging along, times when you put a little more in and if you pace yourself you should be fine. Says another insider, I have had to work a few nights, but nothing too crazy. As you get higher up in the company, you tend to work a few more hours, but that is expected with the nature of the job. I have only had to work weekends once, but that was told to me ahead of time and it was due to the nature of the project (a week-long assignment in a sunny location, which I didnt mind at all).

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Aside from a busy schedule, travel is definitely a part of the Accenture lifestyle. For the most part, that means spending the week with the client and a long weekend at home, often for months at a time. When youre more junior, youre going to be dedicated to one client, so its not like youre going to be flying into Chicago on Monday and then Des Moines on Wednesday, says one insider. Still, travel takes its toll. Everyone tells me you get sick of it after a year, says another.

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Culture
Accenture is a company on the move, one thats engaged in a wide variety of projects in a bunch of different locations. As such, Accentures culture can vary from one extreme to another depending on the client you are working for and the office in which you reside. Employees who work at the client site, especially for extended periods, will find themselves interacting with the clients culture as much as Accentures. On average, we aspire to blend in with our clients. In my projects, I want client people on our team, I want them to be integrated, said one insider. We go to lunch together, go out after work. Thats probably very typical except on the large tech projects, where you have a pod of people in the back room. Says another, We spend 85 to 95 percent of our time at the client site. It may be a little less true these days, because we actually have offices, where we can

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work for clients at an Accenture office. But most of the time, its at the client site. Two recent eventsthe downturn in the economy and the transformation of the firm from one owned and run by partners to a publicly owned firmhave left their mark. Because were now a public company and our finances are subject to analyst scrutiny, theres more focus on financials and profit margins than there was before. That has a trickle-down effectthere may be less money for someone to put in a training budget, for instance. The insider adds, If there were changes, its hard to say if they were due to strictly economic factors or going public and needing to be more investor-friendly.

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Another change that followed the firms stock listing has been awarding bonuses. At the consultant level, your bonus is going to be relatively small compared to

Its definitely more collegial than some your salary. Its mostly affected by the firm at large, other firms. They and to a somewhat lesser extent by your industry encourage group, is the way one insider describes them. teamwork. You get off the plane and Accenture has a youthful atmosphere that lends itself you dont know any easily to making contacts that will last as you move of your colleagues. from project to project. Over all, people like going Within an hour, out with each other after work. Its pretty young, and youre working theres quite a bit of socializing, especially when together.
youre out of town. In spite of the youthful, work-hard/play-hard atmosphereor maybe because of itemployees respond well to Accentures high standards, which require a lot of dedication and self-discipline on the part of the employees. As one insider says, You do get a lot of opportunities. Youre there because they cant do something internally, so you continually have to prove your worth. And finally, the people at Accenture seem to genuinely like and respect each other. Good interpersonal skills and a willingness to help are definitely more common than me first attitudes. Of course, people who dont play well with others are probably not a good fit for consulting. Insiders consistently proclaimed the willingness of colleagues in different cities or even countries to respond to a request for help at the drop of a hat. We have a very strong collaborative culture. If I go on the [companywide] portal, and post questions, I immediately get answers, says one insider.

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Workplace Diversity
Accenture has spent a lot of time trying to recruit and make working conditions amenable to people of color and other minority groups. The diversity program focuses on themes such as mentorship, recruitment, career counseling, schedule flexibility for parents, and retention of women and minorities. Accentures Chief Diversity Officer Kedrick Adkins has created the Diversity Advisory Council, a group of leadership partners with representation across all segments of the company. This group is instrumental in setting strategic direction and implementing key initiatives. In terms of recruiting, Accenture offers internships, jobs, and scholarships through INROADS, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Once employees start working, Accenture offers a sponsorship program in addition to its recruiting program. Sponsors

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work with others on the employees behalf, particularly when it comes to salary increases or promotion discussions, and the companys diversity unit is pushing to get women and minorities strong sponsors. We are spending a lot of time working with our senior leadership. Thats not to say that we didnt have their interest and visibility before, but I spend the vast majority of my time working with our senior executives on diversity-related opportunities, such as recruiting and promotion, says Adkins in a recent interview in The Black Collegian. I report directly to our CEO, Joe Forehand, which speaks volumes to the importance our company places on diversity. In addition, the firm offers diversity training. Some highlights include a 3-hour instructor-led course that demonstrates the importance of appreciating and

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valuing the dynamics between men and women; the diversity principle, a 1-hour course that underlines that diversity in the workforce is a key company priority and shows how stereotypes can contribute to a nonproductive work environment; and the diversity principle in motion, a group workshop on recognizing inappropriate behaviors related to differences in the workplace. As far back as 1994, Accenture was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Gay Men and Lesbians in the Ed Mickens book of the same title. Among the seven networking groups that comprise its Local Office Diversity Program is one for gay and lesbians. Plus, Accenture extends domestic partner benefits to U.S. personnel in same-sex relationships under its medical, dental, and dependent life insurance plans. The plans and their benefits are the same as those available to spouses of married personnel, wherever it is legally possible to do so. Children of same-sex domestic partners can be covered under the same rules as those for children of married personnel.

Opportunities for Women

The Workplace
Like the consulting industry as a whole, Accenture has relatively low female representation among its very senior management. At last count, three of its 21 management committee members were female. Still, the number of women in top positions at Accenture has steadily increased over the past decade. The percentage of female senior-level executives rose from 5.8 percent in 1994 to 10 percent in 2002. However, in 2002 (most recent available) women only accounted for a little more than 14 percent of all promotions to partner status globally and 19 percent of all promotions to partner in the United States. In general, insiders report plenty of women in the workforce, though some areas attract more than others. There are quite a number of females, but its very polarized. Its often in testing and functional design, and less in

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technology, says one insider. Another says, When I was hired in, not many women were hired at the same time. I think thats just coincidence, though. On my current project, more than half of my team members are female and they hold positions at all levels. In 1995, Accenture leadership created a U.S. Womens Initiatives team composed of eight women partners and led by Managing Partner Pam Craig. These women represent all U.S. regions and industries and work closely with the firms CEO to identify strategies that will attract, retain, promote, and advance women at Accenture. Some of the programs include local womens initiatives (31 womens teams in U.S. offices), mentoring/sponsorship, training, and work-life integration. The firm works hard to make it possible for working mothers to achieve a worklife balance, with such options as part-time schedules and job sharing. Accenture gives great emphasis to providing opportunities for personal growth and advancement for women, says a female insider. Additionally, all of my mentors at Accenture have been meneach of whom has shown an enormous interest in providing feedback and helping me achieve my personal goals and

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aspirations. Accentures efforts earned it the praise and notice of outsiders. In September 2003, the firm made its debut on Working Mothers 18th annual 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers. That same year it won a Catalyst award for its efforts to include women in its workforce. Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business and the professions, honors innovative approaches with proven results taken by companies attempting to address the recruitment, development, and advancement of all managerial women, including women of color.

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Compensation
Accenture has been known to pay well and to offer significant raises. Though the weak economy brought back salaries for both MBAs and undergraduates to preboom levels, the rebound is trickling down to even new hire levels. Undergraduate hires can expect to start in the $40,000 to $55,000 range, and insiders report raises are anywhere from 10 to 20 percent a year. MBAs and other advanced-degree holders entering the strategy practice should start from $60,000 to $100,000, depending on office location, educational background, and work experience. Of course, many MBAs move to the level of manager a few years after they start, getting an additional salary boost when they advance. A lot of the MBA programs are people who have pretty good experience4 or 5 years experience in some fields, says one insider. Typically when we hire off the higher-ranking MBA schools, well bring those people in at a manager

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level with the expectation that theyll be a senior manager fairly soon. Note: Compensation numbers are based on WetFeet research; Accenture does not release this information.

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Travel
Most of Accentures work takes place at client sites, and youll often need to travel to get there. For some, this is a perk, and for others, a trying routine. To try to lessen the burden of being away from friends and family for days at a time, the firm follows a seven to seven schedule, meaning consultants leave for the client site around 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning and are at home by Friday at 7:00 p.m. Many return to their home city on Thursday night and then work from their home or a local Accenture office on Friday. The plus is that youre spending more nights at home than at the apartment. The downsideyoure still spending three nights away, says an insider. Some insiders report that travel has subsided from years past. We tend to have much larger contracts and that lets you forecast what your demand is, rather than having short-term demand where youre bringing in short-term resources.

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On the flip side, strategy consultants, whose project work can be as short as a month, can find themselves in several cities each year. A lot of factors go into whether you end up in Honolulu or Manhattan, starting with your skill set and whether youre in an industry group thats clustered around certain cities. And not everyone ends up living out of a suitcase 4 days a week. Consultants in government services, not surprisingly, can work for years out of their home baseas long as its Washington, D.C., or another big capital city. Its really just luck of the draw. Its very much timingif you happen to be available at a time when theres a big demand for a project thats in another city, youll be on that project.

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Accenture also has a program called Flexible Fly-Back, which means you do not need to return to your home office every weekend. Instead, every other flyback (for assignments within the United States this equates to once every 2 weeks), you can fly anywhere else as long as the ticket is no more than what it would cost to fly home. For instance, an employee who is headquartered in Los Angeles but working in New York could fly to London for the weekend instead of back to Los Angeles. Accenture employees may also fly friends or family members to their engagement locations. This provision is also available on cross-border assignments.

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Vacation
In September 2002, Accenture started its PTO, or paid time off, program. The firm doesnt distinguish between vacation, personal, or sick days, providing employees with greater flexibility than a traditional vacation and sick time bank approach. From the corporations viewpoint, the PTO approach reduces unplanned absences and allows smoother business operations. Analysts and consultants get 25 PTO days, which include both vacation and personal days. Employees who work in outsourcing or the internal business functions at Accenture add on PTO days as they work18 days for the first 5 years, then 21 days for the next 5 years. In terms of being able to actually schedule vacations, due to the relatively stable nature of project work, a consultant can and will reach a point where the work will start to taper off. As such, scheduling is a fairly straightforward process

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unlike that of other consulting firms. Insiders report that the firm strives to maintain a good work-life balance, whether that means helping employees get home on the weekends or recognizing overtime. Managers are quite aware of the time and effort that you put into a project, and they never hesitate to appreciate you. While it is not necessarily company practice, some of my managers have bought me dinner on nights that we work a little longer, says one insider.

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Training
Accenture provides technical and managerial skills development. At the entry level, employees in the consulting workforce can expect at least 300 hours of core training during their first 5 years. The training enables consultants to build a common corporate culture, and the firm sees it as a competitive advantage. So do other firms. Insiders report that Accenture analysts are often recruited by competitors in part because of the thorough training they receive at Accenture. A key component is a 2-week visit to the Accenture facility in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, Illinois. Analysts used to attend classes at the corporate campus shortly after they started work. Recently the firm shifted the schedule, and it now sends new recruits to St. Charles once they have several months of on-the-job experience. It makes a lot more sense, says one insider. I would have been able to get a

The Workplace

lot more experience from St. Charles after a year than right off the chute . . . also, its expensive for the firm to do it at the front end. But Accenture wont throw you into a big project cold. Most analysts start with a weeks orientation, followed by 2 weeks of guidance on skills necessary for interacting with a client and working on the project. Training helps consultants develop critical skills such as leadership, value creation, relationship building, business and technology acumen, selling, and methodology. But it also teaches hands-on skills such as programming languages used in the debugging and data analysis that occurs in so many of Accentures projects. In training and thereafter, they are instructed on how to think, act, and speak like an Accenture consultant. As a result, people in Accenture all use a uniform

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business language, so cross-group (or transnational) communication poses no problem (in theory, at least). One insider says, Our 2-week training course in St. Charles consisted of 180 people from all over the world. Not only are the trainees from all over the world, but the trainers are as well. New consultants also learn how to use the Knowledge xChange, Accentures internal information-management system, which enables them to tap into mountains of data from all of the firms consulting assignments, regardless of business group or geographical location. Accenture is increasingly offering training in an online format called myLearning.accenture.com. Thats a common way that Accenture employees learn new skills. For ongoing training theres also a 3-day classroom training conducted by the companys top leadership.

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Career Path
Most undergraduates enter the firm as analysts (or as business analysts, in strategy). Most MBAs enter the strategy service line as consultants or experienced analysts, if they lack significant prior experience. Accenture employees follow a defined career path with set milestones. New employees move from analyst, to consultant, to manager, to senior manager, to associate partner, and finally to partner. The chart below shows the opportunities for applicants in each of the three main categories: undergraduates, MBAs, and midcareer candidates. The whole theory, in those couple of years, is that not only do you get the initial foundation, but its like a blank check to jump around with clients and get a broader experience, says one insider about the Core Analysts Program. After youve been with the firm for a few years, the expectation is that youve aligned

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with an industry group and specialty group. The further you go on, the more valuable you are if you have something unique.

Accenture Career Path

Job Title
Analyst (except strategy) Business analyst (strategy only) Consultant Manager Senior manager Associate partner Partner

Eligibility
Undergrad hires, for 1 to 3 years Undergrad or MBA, entry-level hires, for 2 to 4 years New MBA hires and analysts with at least 2 years experience Consultants with 2 to 4 years experience Managers with 3 to 4 years experience Experienced managers Those elected to firms partnership (currently 2,300)
Source: WetFeet research.

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Opportunities for Undergraduates

Undergraduates join the CAP as analysts and, except in strategy, can generally find opportunities to move straight up the career ladder without investing a small fortune in another degree. On the strategy side, Accenture has a business analyst program for undergraduates. Depending on needs, Accenture offers a limited number of paid 10- to 12-week internships for undergraduates, typically in the summer before their senior year. The profile is similar to that of a full-time entry-level analyst. That is, they must have technical skills, a strong GPA and show involvement in extracurricular activities. The firm also sponsors several minority internship programs, including: Entry-Level Summer Intern Program, in which the firm works with identified star candidates from key schools and programs. This program includes a 3-day leadership conference. Student Leadership Conference, in which the firm provides top students who are unable to perform internships with a 3-day leadership conference to learn about Accenture. Accentures Commitment to Empower Successful Students Program is a multiyear mentorship program targeting top African-American and HispanicAmerican students at key sources. Diversity Leadership Weekend, in which students attend a 3-day leadership event led by Monster.com. Students get to network with each other during summer by attending workshops and information sessions.

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Opportunities for MBAs

MBAs start as experienced analysts or consultants (some MBAs with little relevant work experience start as new analysts), and move up to manager, senior manager, associate partner, and partner. The trip to the top could take as little as 10 years. Insiders report some executives prefer to stay at the senior manager or manager level if they want to stay involved with the operational, hands-on side of consulting. Associate partners and partners spend much of the time selling the firm to clients. You might be hired in strategy, [and] youd be focused much more on analysis, says an insider. Youre involved much more on the early phases of a project. You wouldnt be in a role at the tale end.

Opportunities for Midcareer Candidates

Midcareer hires come into the firm at any level, from analyst to senior manager. It varies greatly by profile and experience, says an insider in recruiting. Many industry hires occur when Accenture expands and pulls in consultants knowledgeable in a skills area or industry sector. Often they come from a rival firm or within the industry. But consulting or industry experience doesnt necessarily mean youll enter as a manager; with just a few years of work experience under your belt, you may still start as an analyst. We do it, but its usually because theres a specific skill, and we need to have it, says on insider. It didnt used to be common, but its increasingly common, because weve got a lot bigger. When weve branched out, weve needed to hire for a certain expertise, says another insider. But experienced hires can sometimes have difficulties. Ive heard people say that they have a unique expertise that isnt

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valued properly, adds the insider. Sometimes we were more interested in the process of doing something rather than the expertise. We put a lot of emphasis on methodology.

International Opportunities
Accenture has offices in 48 countries and is well known around the world. In fact, the lions share of its hiring for its fiscal year 2004 is taking place outside the United States. And in the first 6 months of 2004, non-U.S. business accounts made up 54 percent of the firms net revenues. But Accenture doesnt currently offer many opportunities to go abroad. Instead, the firm prefers to staff locally. The most common way to do a stint overseas is to be staffed on an international project, which is only going to happen if your particular skill set is in demand and if you have the requisite language skills. I wouldnt say its the norm, says one insider in recruiting about overseas

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assignments. If the client has a global presence, they have a large project-need outside the United States, we may deploy consultants, says the insider. We take interest in these opportunities seriously, or if they have a background in language, etc., that would make them particularly valuable.

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Insider Scoop
What Employees Really Like
Neither Burnout nor Rust
Sure, Accenture consultants, especially in strategy, can get tired of the meeting/ deadline/meeting routine when projects heat up. Working out of town and flying back for a Friday to Sunday stay in your hometown can take its toll. But theres a silver lining to the kind of work they do: the opportunity to, in essence, start a new job every 6 to 12 months. When things go as they should, consultants spend enough time on-site to truly know the clients business and culture, but not so much time that they burn out. One partner told me the partner lived in periods of 2-year chunks. You keep reevaluating and saying Ill stay another 2 years, and chances are, before long youre a partner, said one insider.

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People Helping People

Though its surprising given its size, Accenture gets good marks for openness, responsiveness, and flexibility. Insiders regularly highlight their colleagues positive attributes when describing the atmosphere of the firm. High performing, results-oriented, generally quite energetic, says one insider about the people. Its fairly young, although the slowdown in hiring over the last few years took away a little of that Accenture U. feeling. We probably had a bit of a demo graphic shift, when we stopped the pipeline for recruiting. Now weve turned the taps back on, says the insider. Accenture employees often embrace the networking possibilities the company provides, even if that means meeting after hours to plan a class and then teach

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it. They seem ready to spend a little of their personal time helping unknown colleagues, because they know theyll get that service back some day. Managers and partners are reportedly approachable on projects. And the firm, while large, isnt inflexible when it comes to individual needs. If youre determined enough, if youre persistent and not too much of a pain, you can usually get what you want, says one insider.

Opportunity Knocks
Accenture is a great name to have on your resume, and its a great place to learn about a variety of industries and get quality training. One insider describes the typical departure points for consultants this way: A lot of people leave between year 1 and 2a lot of people who thought travel was fantastic and it wasnt their cup of tea. The next batch, people leave at the 4-year mark. These people tend to leave because the headhunters drive them crazy, people who want to take advantage of the fact that we invest a lot in their training. The insider continues, The next big area are people who leave between year 7 and year 10. These people are leaving for a combination of getting very good

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roles, sometimes with clients. Or theyre starting to have a family, and it becomes a bigger deal being away.

Watch Out!
Know What Youre Getting Into
Contrary to what some MBAs might think, not everyone would give up his left tooth to get a strategy consulting job. Accentures strong suit has traditionally been systems integration, and insiders report that a lot of people are attracted to the firm because of its tech reputation. In fact, new analysts often dont realize the scope of activities that Accenture consultants engage in.

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The biggest misconception that new people have is around the technology parts of the business. It often depends on who theyve interviewed with, says one insider. Sometimes they think theyre going to do lots of technology and want to know why we arent building a system. Then on the flip side, people who have done organization design, then theyre testing a system, and thats not what they expected, either.

Jack-of-All-Trades?
The bottom line to working in Accentures consulting practice is that you could easily end up with bit parts on a variety of projects, from writing training scripts to proofing user manuals to helping screw in large computer systems. The possibility for different types of project work seems only likely to expand as the firm builds out newer areas, such as outsourcing and offshoring, and partners sell clients packages of servicesfrom high-level strategic thinking to nuts-andbolts system installation. If you look at the firm like a bell curve, the far right would be pure strategy. Were not pure strategy. We can do strategy and technology and outsourcing,

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says one insider. For Accenture, on a typical deal, the business consultant says well implement the technology or well outsource the function. The client might say, If you execute it, thats great, how about the strategic direction? The downside of working on different types of projects means youre a jackall-trades and a master of none, says one insider. But rest assured, you will specialize whether you want to or not. Managers typically staff their projects with analysts and consultants who have particular industry, programming, or business analysis expertise. The more projects of a certain type that you do, the more likely you are to be a master of some.

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Get Out and Mingle

Almost from day 1, Accenture analysts and consultants have two jobs: working on a project for clients, and working to make sure theyll be staffed on a good project when the current one ends. Of course, client work takes up the bulk of consultants time, energy, and focus. But insiders say its important to keep in touch with colleagues from past projects, acquaintances met at local industry gatherings, and anyone who might work on a project youd want to join. In a word, networking. You really dont want to tempt fate by just plodding along, says one insider. In the best of times, youll just get marginal projects. In down times, you may not get projects at all. You really have to work hard to get to know people.

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Getting Hired
The Recruiting Process Interviewing Tips

Getting Hired
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The Recruiting Process

Accenture has a fairly focused recruiting strategy. Recruitment areas are determined separately by industry needs. Accenture targets schools and applicants who fit those needs as well as those who fit its goals for retaining a diverse workforce. Local Accenture offices send out representatives from those groups to conduct marketing and interviewing at the selected schools in their areas. Accenture also accepts applications from students at schools at which it doesnt recruit. The company advises would-be candidates to speak first with their campus career center to learn whether theres a liaison at their school. If Accenture does not visit your campus, students are encouraged to apply through the company website, by submitting a resume. Students should visit Accenture at www.campusconnection.accenture.com. The site also lists the locations currently hiring entry-level analysts. First-round interviews with Accenture take place on campus or by phone. They are really an initial screening, lasting from 15 to 20 minutes. But dont be surprised if the manager throws some behavioral questions out at this stage. The company looks for people who can handle deadlines, work with colleagues in an office and act professionally with clients. We go through a fairly involved assessment process, says an insider in recruiting.

Getting Hired

Some questions you may be asked: Ive seen your resume; can you make it come alive? Why consulting? Why Accenture? What group within the firm are you interested in? Why?

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 When was a time in your life that you had to meet deadlines? How do you react to tough situations? The second-round interview lasts 30 to 45 minutes and spends more time on behavioral questions, skills, and experience. The manager wanted to know more about which group I was interested in, technology or process. He gave me a lot more detailed questions, like

Be honestsome setbacks often lead to other great examples of how someone handled them self.

How do you handle team problems, individuals who dont want to work, people who miscommunicate? says one insider. In other words, your interviewer will be looking for two things: examples from your backgroundusually school or work experiencethat will shed light on how youll perform as an Accenture employee, and evidence of how you operate as a problem solver. Theres more of an art to giving knockout answers to behavioral questions than one might think. An insider in recruiting advises, Be prepared to walk through stories in detail. Focus on the role that you played specifically, not what a team did overall. A typical question in the first or second round might be: Tell me about a complex problem you had to solve, and walk me through your thinking as you solved it. The third round is mostly a formality, say insiders. Candidates meet with more Accenture executives, and if all goes well, can receive an offer from a partner. In general, They basically want to see how you would handle yourself in a

Getting Hired

consultant-type role where you will be constantly changing projects and team members. They want to make sure that you can not only survive, but excel in this type of environment, says an insider.

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I would suggest that you pick a few examples out of your life where you have demonstrated these characteristics, advises the insider. Dont be afraid to give examples of leadership qualities the firm prides itself on. They are looking for people who are very driven and who take charge of a situation when necessary. The process for interviewing strategy candidates is much like that for candidates in the service lines, but with one exception: Strategy candidates are also asked to analyze and describe their thought processes related to case studies. We ask general, open-ended questions that ask a recruit to describe a situation from his or her recent past, says an Accenture recruiter. We believe in the premise that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. Therefore, we are trying to understand what a recruit did, knowing that people often handle things similarly when faced with like situations, says the insider. Each service line at Accenture draws people from distinct educational backgrounds, though the firm does make exceptions. Human performance hires, for instance, are likely to have degrees in areas such as organizational design, organizational behavior, industrial or organizational psychology, instructional design, executive leadership, liberal arts, and business with an organizational development or human resources concentration. Solutions operations hires generally have degrees in industrial engineering, management information systems, computer information systems, math, economics, or business administration. The various tech-oriented service lines hire folks with degrees in things like computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, management information systems, computer information systems, math, economics, and business administration.

Getting Hired
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Undergraduates
Accenture hires the bulk of entry-level undergrads from computer science or engineering programs, plus organizational management and economics. Students from softer disciplines can get jobs at Accenture, but human performance is probably the group most receptive to English majors and the like. For positions other than those in strategy, Accenture recruits at many schools; check with your recruiting center.

MBAs
Accenture hires a lot of MBAsas well as other advanced-degree holders, such as PhDs, MDs, and JDsand looks to programs far and wide to help fill its staffing needs. Compensation levels vary according to location and the candidates experience. Accenture recruits for strategy at such top MBA schools as Harvard, U.C. Berkeley, Wharton, University of Chicago, Stanford, Kellogg, and MIT Sloan.

Midcareer Candidates
Historically, Accenture has hired a substantial number of experienced people. These hires include some who have worked in industry and some who have worked for other consulting firms. If you dont have a contact in the firm, the best bet is to contact the recruiting director at the office of your choice. In any case, youll want to think long and hard about how to show that youre a good fit in Accentures famously strong culture. At this level, prepare to show how your specific technical or industry skills and knowledge match Accentures needs. Experienced candidates generally go through two rounds of interviewsa screening interview followed by a behavioral and skills-assessment interview but the process is much less set in stone than it is for undergrads and MBAs.

Getting Hired
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Interviewing Tips
After the first round, which exists mainly to screen out candidates whose resumes or personalities obviously dont fit with Accenture, recruiters use the behavioral interviewing technique to seek out personality types that will fit well in the firms culture. Theyre looking for well-rounded types with strong communication skills, problem-solving abilities, an interest in technology, determination, a strong learning capacity, a willingness to work hard, and flexibility, among other traits. 1. To prepare for your interview, think about your work and school experiences, paying special attention to times when you worked as part of a group. Try to take every relevant piece of experience you have and demonstrate how that experience has directed you toward consulting and Accenture specifically. Have the names, dates, and numbers for these experiences at your fingertips so you can mention them quickly, and then spend time explaining their significance. 2. Be prepared to discuss your feelings and emotional responses to work experiences. Insiders tell us that a big part of Accentures behavioral interviewing technique is to ask how you felt about particular situations, especially those involving conflict: What frustrated you and how did you overcome that frustration? In what areas are you particularly confident and why? What difficulties do you experience on group projects and how

Getting Hired

do you address those problems? 3. Do your homework about the organization. Reading this guide is a good start. But also visit the company website (www.accenture.com) and look at the Careers section thoroughly. Do job searches and read related job

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announcements to familiarize yourself with the Accenture language. Youll definitely want to know the structure of the firm and the differences between the services, not to mention have a compelling rationale for choosing one service line over the others. 4. Recruiters are always impressed by an educated query. This is your chance to interview the company as it interviews you. If you can get the interviewer to try to sell the company to you rather than vice versa, you will have made an impression. The following are a few questions to help get you started: - What are the specific expectations you would have of me as a new employee, and how will Accenture help me meet those expectations? - How much client interaction should I expect? - What would you say are the benefits of having so many different industry and service lines in one company? - How much leeway would I have in determining which industry or client I will work for?

Getting Hired
53

For Your Reference

For Your Reference

Recommended Reading For Further Study The Numbers Et Cetera

55

For Your Reference

Recommended Reading
Skin in the Game
Corporate clients, wary of expensive consulting projects that dont live up to promises, are pressuring firms like Accenture to tie fees to results.
Source: Daniel Lyons, Forbes, 2/16/04.

Sharing Gains, Risks; Accenture Finds Opportunity in Business Transformation Outsourcing

An interview with a senior executive about the burgeoning market for outsourcing and Accentures place in it.
Source: Stan Gibson, eWeek 3/15/04.

The Incredible Shrinking Consultant

The consulting industry may be changing, and according to this article, Accenture may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of those changes.
Source: Melanie Warner, Fortune, 5/26/03.

A Rose by Any Other Name

A good discussion of the wisdom of Andersen Consulting changing its name; in hindsight, it was a smart move.
Source: Joanne Gordon, Forbes, 3/4/02.

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For Your Reference

For Further Study

Spend some time looking at Accentures website at www.accenture.com. A general resource for information about the consulting industry is Consultants News, which is published by Kennedy Information. For more information about this and other Kennedy publications, visit ConsultingCentral.com or the Kennedy Information website at www.kennedyinfo.com. Visit www.WetFeet.com for more information about a number of consulting firms, their jobs, and recruiting. And for help with your case interviews, check out the best-selling Ace Your Case series, also available at www.WetFeet.com. Finally, Accenture consultants have written or contributed to a wide array of books. For a taste of what you might be dealing with as a consultant, Check out Whats the Big Idea? Creating and Capitalizing on the Best Management Thinking, a book that gives insight on when to pursue an idea; Geeks & Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, co-authored by an Accenture associate partner; Making Markets: How Firms can Design and Profit from Online Auctions and Exchange, co-authored by a senior research fellow at the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change; and The Future of Leadership: Todays Top Leadership Thinkers Speak to Tomorrows Leaders, to which three Accenture professionals contributed.

57

For Your Reference

The Numbers
Revenue (in thousands) for the 6-month period ending February 29, 2004, compared to February 28, 2003:

Accenture Revenue
Operating Group
Communication & high tech Financial services Government Products Resources Other Total

2004 ($)
1,809,822 1,293,580 946,145 1,416,527 1,092,895 4,825 7,256,792
Source: www.accenture.com.

2003 ($)
1,616,451 1,172,171 720,498 1,291,808 950,985 4,241 6,516,470

1-Yr. Change (%)

12 10 31 10 15 14 11

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For Your Reference

Et Cetera
Recruiting Contacts
Accenture is probably coming soon to a school near you. If not, your chances of getting a position will be tougher. Nevertheless, take heart: The firm is hiring lots of people, many of them during the off-season. Its best to contact the recruiting coordinator at your office of choice (check the Accenture website). If youre a midcareer candidate interested in working in the United States, you can submit your resume at www.accenture.com.

Key People
Joe W. Forehand, Chairman and CEO (William D. Green will become CEO on September 1, 2004) Michael G. McGrath, Chief Financial Officer Stephan A. James, Chief Operating OfficerCapabilities William D. Green, Chief Operating OfficerClient Services, CEO designate R. Timothy S. Breene, Chief Strategy Officer

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For Your Reference

Major Offices
Accenture has hundreds of offices around the world. For a complete list, check out www.accenture.com. Also refer to the New York address listed in the Accenture at a Glance section. Large U.S. offices include: Chicago 161 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60601 Phone: 312-693-0161 Fax: 312-693-0507 San Francisco Spear Street Tower Suite 4200, One Market San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: 415-537-5000 Fax: 415-537-5037 Dallas 5221 North OConnor Boulevard, Suite 1400 Irving, TX 75039 Phone: 469-665-0000 Fax: 469-665-2000

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WETFEETS INSIDER GUIDE SERIES

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Who We Are
WetFeet is the trusted destination for job seekers to research companies and industries, and manage their careers. WetFeet Insider Guides provide you with inside information for a successful job search. At WetFeet, we do the work for you and present our results in an informative, credible, and entertaining way. Think of us as your own private research company whose primary mission is to assist you in making more informed career decisions. WetFeet was founded in 1994 by Stanford MBAs Gary Alpert and Steve Pollock. While exploring our next career moves, we needed products like the WetFeet Insider Guides to help us through the research and interviewing game. But they didnt exist. So we started writing. Today, WetFeet serves more than a million job candidates each month by helping them nail their interviews, avoid illfated career decisions, and add thousands of dollars to their compensation packages. The quality of our work and knowledge of the job-seeking world have also allowed us to develop an extensive corporate and university membership. In addition, WetFeets services include two award-winning websites (WetFeet.com and InternshipPrograms.com), Web-based recruiting technologies, consulting services, and our exclusive research studies, such as the annual WetFeet Student Recruitment Survey. Our team members, who come from diverse backgrounds, share a passion about the job-search process and a commitment to delivering the highest quality products and customer service.

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One of the most frequent questions we receive is, So, whats the story behind your name? The short story is that the inspiration for our name comes from a popular business school case study about L.L. Bean, the successful mail-order company. Leon Leonwood Bean got his start because he quite simply, and very literally, had a case of wet feet. Every time he went hunting in the Maine woods, his shoes leaked, and he returned with soaked feet. So, one day, he decided to make a better hunting shoe. And he did. And he told his friends, and they lined up to buy their own pairs of Bean boots. And L.L. Bean, the company, was born . . . all because a man who had wet feet decided to make boots. The lesson we took from the Bean case? Lots of people get wet feet, but entrepreneurs make boots. And thats exactly what were doing at WetFeet.

Careers/Job Search

Looking for a top-notch consulting and technology services firm with a youthful culture and a high-end client roster? Youll find that and more
at Accenture. Insiders say that having the Accenture name on your resume opens countless doors later on and that they have the distinct pleasure of working with the best minds in the business. Hiring is competitive and once in, youll be expected to work hard, but if you aspire to be involved in massive projects for the nations largest Fortune 500 companies, Accenture is the place to be.

Turn to this WetFeet Insider Guide to learn

How Accenture stacks up against the competition. How the firm is organized, from top to bottom. What the typical responsibilities are and what day-to-day life is like for analysts and consultants. What employees love most and like least about working at Accenture. Detailed information about the workplace at Accenture, including the lifestyle and hours, culture, compensation, travel, and training. What the recruiting process entails and what recruiters are looking for Tips from Accenture insiders for acing the interview.

WetFeet has earned a strong reputation among college graduates and career professionals for its series of highly credible, no-holds-barred Insider Guides. WetFeets investigative writers get behind the annual reports and corporate PR to tell the real story of what its like to work at specic companies and in different industries. www.WetFeet.com