Accenture Strategy vs. Capital One BA?
Hey wso,
I'm currently a junior interested in consulting, and I'm trying to decide between internship offers from Accenture Strategy and Capital One for their Business Analyst program. I'm leaning towards Accenture Strategy because it'll give me insight on whether consulting is really something I want to do as a career and it'll expose me to an industry that isn't financial services, which is where my previous 2 internships were. However, I just wanted to run a couple of questions by you guys since I have some hesitations about taking Accenture.
If I'm interested in re-recruiting for full-time positions at MBB and tier 2 firms next year, will Accenture Strategy hurt my chances as opposed to Cap One? I've read a little about firms not wanting to "re-train" interns from other consulting firms, or Accenture's emphasis on technology hurting my brand since companies might I wouldn't be able to "move up" to the high-level strategy that MBB consults at.
I've read a little bit online about Accenture Strategy not being "real" strategy in that they use it as a way to sell their implementation work. Does anyone know if this is true? My impression right now is that it exists, but to a small extent since they're trying to make this not the case. I've heard that networking is important to get on interesting projects.
Any thoughts on which of the two internships you guys would take?
I'm also considering emailing the Capital One recruiter asking if I can potentially be placed in Capital One's Strategy Associate program, since that is more high-level strategy and has great MBA placement.
Thank you in advance!
First off, Capital One will not place you in the Strategy division unless you interviewed there. It's a bit rigid.
To answer your questions:
The concerns about Accenture Strategy are mostly unfounded, but I believe that Capital One is the better program. It's less stressful (way fewer hours), equally well paid, and equally prestigious. You get great looks for MBB -- I did the program and got final rounds at both Bs.
I'm not at Accenture Strategy, so it's hard to say if they use engagements to sell follow-on implementation work, but most firms (including MBB) do that to some extent, so I wouldn't really worry about that. The whole aspect of networking to get onto cases is absolutely true, and really turned me off when I was looking at firms. Note that other enormous firms like Deloitte S&O do this as well.
Going into my final interview slate, my options were Bain, BCG, one of LEK/OW/ATK, Accenture Strategy, and Capital One. I ranked them Bain = BCG > LEK/OW/ATK > Capital One > Accenture Strategy. I got dinged at Bain, BCG, and Accenture Strategy, so I went with LEK/OW/ATK.
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