Accenture Post Final Round Interview Pending Decision
Hello,
I interviewed with Accenture 4 weeks ago for their MC Analyst Intern position and they called me 3 weeks ago informing me that my interview was viewed positively, but that they were still undecided at that point. They had rejected some of the candidates in the pool by that point, but they still did not have a final decision on me. Since they have not given me an update since then, can I assume that there is a low chance that I will receive an offer? I've called the recruiter every week since then and she has continued to inform me that Accenture has not made final decisions yet.
I have an offer with ZS Associates that expires on Friday, March 25th and was planning on accepting the offer if Accenture did not get back to me. What are people's perceptions of ZS compared to Accenture? I really like both firms and so the Accenture situation has been somewhat disheartening to me. Thank you!
Personally, I have viewed ZS as being just as good as ACN, if not better. ACN's MC/Strategy groups tend to just be as a strategy to sell long term implementation work. I did a 6 month internship with ACN that was a pure tech implementation project. On my team, probably more than half were in MCDP or Strategy. Don't know if this is still true, but, when I was there, it sounded like they had overhired MCDP analysts and weren't able to staff them on projects that were aligned with what they had intended.
I would pick ZS over ACN if presented with these opportunities. Talked with a friend who actually made that decision and he stated most of my observations as being the reasons for his choice.
Edit: If you really do prefer ACN over ZS, you should let the recruiter know ASAP about the exploding offer from ZS. Probably should've let them know about a week or two ago, but late is better than never.
Thank you very much for your response, PE Hopeful! That's what I've been hearing from people regarding ACN. The types of skills that you learn from ACN depend heavily on the projects that you're staffed on and if tech implementation is not your interest, then you need to maneuver your way around to get the projects and skills that you want. I've already spoken to the recruiter about my exploding offer (I didn't state ZS though) and she basically told me that the national team at ACN is still determining the amount of interns that they want to hire since, like you mentioned, they overhired analysts last year. One thing that was discouraging about ACN though was that they did indeed give one official offer to someone for the MC Analyst Intern position but the rest of us were left to wait on our final decisions.
That's good to know about ZS. I'm very happy and honored to have gotten an offer from them and I've heard that the culture is great there and the kinds of skills you gain from ZS are very translatable across the board, which is what I"m looking for. I'd love to reach out to your friend about his decision with ZS if that's possible. Thank you!
Something to keep in mind is that you cannot always "maneuver" to a project that closely aligns to your interests. Managers don't want to lose you if they think you're a valuable asset, regardless of how HR states a development program should work.
The MCDP/Strategy analysts I had worked with had been promised at least 4 projects in their first year during the recruiting process. Most of them were only able to do 2-3 because they got placed on a long-term tech project and literally could not get off of it for 9-12 months.
At the end of the day, consulting is about billable hours. Your wants/requests only are considered as long as they are aligned with the firm's needs. Based on my experience (and other's I have heard) ACN seems to see their analysts as more of a cog in the machine than other firms. Personally, I think you'll get more meaningful work experience/learning opportunities through ZS than ACN, especially if you're a bit more entrepreneurial and are thinking of opening a business someday.
Definitely let Accenture know about your exploding offer (as stated above- you probably should have done this already) because 1) it shows that someone else wants you, which means they're effectively "poaching" you from a competitor and 2) you have leverage. Tell them ASAP, and tell them that Accenture is your preference but you're not an idiot and you will take the ZS offer over waiting on Accenture to make up their minds.
Hi OttoReadmore I did actually let ACN know about my exploding offer a week ago and they didn't do anything about the situation other than tell me that if I accepted the other offer, to let them know. It's been a bit frustrating, but I understand that that is how the consulting world works. What is your perception of ZS? Would you consider it to be relatively at the same level as ZS? Thanks!
I think as far as consulting goes, it's a reputable firm. And so is Accenture. Your projects I assume will be more healthcare focused at ZS whereas at Accenture you'll likely have clients across a wide variety of industries. It seems like you're an alternate/back-up here and that's perfectly fine. That means you did some things right, there were just people they liked more. I would say happily take the ZS offer and let them know that you're excited to come on board and learn the ropes. As someone starting a career, you want to to go a place that's excited to have you on board and by Accenture's action I think they're already off to a bad start as far as first impressions go. You can always recruit for FT to after the internship is over.
I had a friend in the exact same position - I kid you not. She was on the waitlist for ACN and had an offer from ZS. ACN was really awful about getting back to her and were not flexible at all. I would inform ACN of your exploding offer but do not expect them to get back to you in a super timely way as you are on a waitlist technically and your tentative offer is based on other people's acceptance or refusal which takes a long time.
That being said. My friend accepted ZS, loved it and was invited as an early recruit for Accenture to interview in August with a smaller pool of people. Ultimately she did not get an offer and is going to IBM CbD. (LoL that I am actually working for ACN next year myself).
I also got an offer from ZS as an intern. If you need anything please PM me!
Hi saresnaps , thank you for letting me know about your friend's situation! That's good to know that there have been other people that have gone through the same dilemma. I did let them know about my exploding offer, but like you mentioned, they aren't being super timely about it as they've essentially told me that if I accept by other offer, that I should notify them (which I don't plan to so that they don't remove me from their list).
That's interesting that she was an early recruit for Accenture to interview in August. Was that because she was a waitlist candidate from before? Good for her for going to IBM CbD! Congrats on your offer to work at ACN next year! What group will you be working in: MC or Strategy?
It would be wonderful if I could PM you! Thank you so much!
Hey sorry this is a late reply. Go ahead and PM me.
I am working for Strategy in NYC for ACN.
She was an early recruit because she was on the waitlist. Essentially, they liked her a lot but did not have space for her because the intern head count is severely limited but not going to lie ACN was not always great at getting in contact with her.
I was in this situation last year with Accenture. Had an outstanding offer from elsewhere and was waiting to hear back from Accenture. You still have a chance of receiving an offer, however, you're likely their backup. In my situation, I told them about the deadline from another offer I had, and although they ensured me they would get back to me by that deadline, they never did. They called me with an offer 4 months after I had already accepted the other offer. By then I was like wtf..
Hi @Brian777" , 4 months?! That's insane that they would do that to you. I'm definitely a backup for them and I'm pretty sure they won't be getting back to me by tomorrow. Was this for an internship or a full-time offer? Did they offer any other options to you at the point about whether or not you could delay their offer for the future? Thanks!
It was for full-time. The dumb thing was that I actually interviewed for the internship as well and they told me that although I passed all rounds, they didn't have a spot for me. They told me that I could go straight to the final round for full-time (which was the case). And then the shit I mentioned above happened. So....working at Accenture is just not in my stars.
Because it was for a full-time position, they didn't offer any alternatives. The offer was actually quite good (as compared to the offer I had already accepted). But the way they approached recruiting just pissed me off..
Updates: Accenture got back to another friend who was originally rejected after the final round interview with an offer 1.5 months after our final round interview. Very confused with Accenture's entire recruiting process. They essentially asked the friend if they would reconsider accepting Accenture's offer even though they rejected them the first time. What was also interesting was that the 2 people that Accenture gave offers to were sophomores as opposed to juniors, which makes me wonder if Accenture didn't take any interns that were juniors because they were unsure if they could staff the juniors for full-time the following year. If they brought sophomores as interns instead, that would mean they could bring them back as interns during their junior year instead of trying to staff full-time juniors as full-time analysts once they graduate. What do you guys think about this situation?
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