Accenture MC or ATK
Hi,
I'm currently in trading but want to switch to consulting for MBA scholarship opportunities and exposure to a range of industries. I have offers from Accenture MC (would want to network my way into Strategy) and also ATK. Long term goal would be to get an MBA and end up in senior management or strategy in F500 (how viable?)
I feel like ATK has a better reputation and would offer more pure strat projects as opposed to Accenture, and therefore better quality exit ops. Accenture strats don't seem to travel internationally as much as ATK (a good thing, imo). Does anyone know if it would be easier to be sponsored for an MBA at either of these firms or any info about working hours, travel frequency etc?
Thanks
ATK by a mile. They have a much less toxic atmosphere and more interesting projects. Pay is also better for most people. Also as far as I know you almost never need to do an international project at ATK (at least from US-perspective), it's something you can do if you want.
Also Accenture Strategy is it's own thing, and the number of people who want to transfer to Strategy within Accenture is high, so that's an uphill battle I wouldn't expect to win.
Hours and travel are comparable at both, typical M-Th travel.
Spoke to a few strats at Accenture and they said its v possible to go from MC to Strat, so thats why i am considering it. What do you mean toxic atmosphere at Accenture? Is this just something from personal experience? please elaborate.
> Is this just something from personal experience? please elaborate.
Primarily from friends who worked there. With Accenture's scale comes a lot of red-tape and headaches that seemed a bit more tedious to deal with than normal. In addition, I know multiple people who joined with the idea that they'd be on certain types of projects only to get something like a year-long implementation job they didn't expect. One friend mentioned they felt a lot more on their own in terms of figuring things out than others at different firms.
In contrast, AFAIK ATK does a good job supporting people and generally seems like a really happy place (I have friends that work there and I had an offer from them).
> Spoke to a few strats at Accenture and they said its v possible to go from MC to Strat, so thats why i am considering it.
My understanding is it's absolutely possible but not probable. To avoid a survivorship bias, try figuring out not just how many made it but how many tried as well - it's a huge firm and there's a lot of people who want to do strategy. Also, why join Accenture with the hope of moving roles in a couple years whereas you can presumably start in strategy with ATK.
There is no question here if you want to be a strategy consultant. ATK.
Given my background is in S&T, and ATK is known for its supply chain/procurement, do you think my experience thus far would be useful at all? Would people consultants there care about S&T exp?
Why would you think your S&T knowledge would be leveraged at Accenture?
It won't be "useful" or directly applicable at either place tbh.
One thing I am worried about at Accenture, given my exp in S&T, is that I will get staffed on back-office tech projects at banks, which I wouldn't be able to stand. Would ATK be any different?
ATK doesn't do a lot of tech consulting, so yes.
The project mix is entirely different. Your concerns about Accenture are accurate. ATK is, by comparison, a top tier (tier 1/2) strategy shop. Mostly focused on operations strategy, with more limited work in growth strategy and other types of projects. Again, this isn't even a question if you want to do strategy work. Accenture non-strategy folks are a dime a dozen. ATK will open many more doors for you.
If most of the work is operations strategy what exit options can that lead to? I’m guessing very low chance of PE or VC exits?
ATK > ACN Strategy
What region are you in? People can give more color on the relative strengths. Should not matter anyways, take ATK in any region and enjoy your time there.
ATK is head and shoulders above Accenture MC. They are completely different tiers.
Accenture MC is going to be mostly implementation and PMO and a bit of ops (all of the strategic work will get siphoned off to Accenture Strategy).
ATK is a top firm that does strategic work (with their strength being operations strategy). It's also a true partnership and people are generally a lot happier there compared to Accenture with its burearcracy (it's a public company after all). Pay is also better at ATK in this scenario.
Only upside I can see in favour of Accenture MC is the fact that they have a local staffing model, which limits travel. You can request to be local at ATK as well and as long as you're willing to sacrifice a bit in terms of project function, it should be doable. I know someone who's spent all of 2019 so far local at ATK (upon requesting for such).
Accenture Strategy here. To put the bottom line up front: ATK is prob the better choice.
BUT, below are some considerations for your decision:
-Transferring from Accenture MC to Strategy is do able, but folks are right that you'll be among a group of many peers also trying to make this switch. The general process to do it, and level of difficulty, is comparable to other firms (e.g. switching from PwC MC to Strategy&, McK Implementation to McK's generalist consulting track, etc.)
-While Accenture Strategy does sponsor MBAs (and encourages Strats to take advantage), Accenture MC does not. I don't know about ATK but assme it does
-Work at Accenture MC will be management consulting but with a digital/tech bend. ATK will be management consulting but with a operations/supply chain bend. You should think about which functional area interests you more and which experience will set you up better for your long term career. Be weary of anyone who says you'll be doing growth-oriented work at either of these firms; they're stretching the imagination.
-Firm performance & trajectory. For all its flaws, Accenture is generally viewed as "on the rise" in the industry. ATK, in my view, is a storied firm with an impressive history, but that one may be past its prime (could write a whole different post on these two points).
-ATK would be better from both an exit opps and MBA candidate profile standpoint. this is a big one
Congrats and good luck!
Quick follow-up on note about Accenture stffing . You'll have no prob finding project opportunities outside your financial services background. There is too much demand for staffing to pigeon hole junior people like that
To the point on sponsorship, ATK does offer full sponsorship for analysts going to b-school.
To the point on being past it's prime, I think it's accurate if its prime was the 50s/60s. But it's still seeing strong growth YoY so it's not like it's stagnating as a firm.
I think there are interesting questions in regards to ATK's scale and how it will fare several years down the road. Accenture in comparison has the size and money to compete at scale, if they get the board aligned.
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