What are Accenture exit ops like ?

Currently a 1st year analyst at a boutique strategy consultancy straight out of undergrad. Really enjoy the work and the culture and WLB is excellent - compensation however is just average. I have an offer from Accenture which got moved to early next year. Long term I think I'll move either into banking/asset management or a tech role. I don't see much financial growth from consulting, especially in the UK. Currently quite confused as to whether I move to Accenture, work there about 2 years (since won't be a good look on the CV if I move any earlier), and then try and move into the aforementioned industries or do I stick it out here and start applying to new places now without doing a stint at Accenture. What kind of opportunities have Big4/Accenture opened up for you guys that are non-consulting, or significantly higher comp ? Any guidance would be highly appreciated.

 
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People on here dump all over big 4 and Accenture, but they actually have good exit opps. However, if you are looking to jump right into banking, it’s gonna be tough especially if you want to try for a BB.

If you want to go the banking route, your best bet is to get to Accenture or do something really unique and notable at the boutique for a couple years and do a top MBA program. Plenty of people on this site will tell you big4 and Accenture can’t get into top MBA programs, but it’s not true. If you have good credentials and put effort into your application, you have a significant chance of getting in. Relative to the business world big4 and Accenture are still “prestigious” just not as much as a BB bank.

If you chose to go private equity, depending on your relevant experience, you could probably land at a MM to LMM firm straight from Accenture or big4. It would be challenging but smaller shops are much more open to that sort of thing. If you want to go to a larger PE shop (UMM to MF) , you would most likely have to go the banking route or do MBB and go to a PE shop that recruits directly from MBB.

You could also definitely land a strategy position at many companies out of Accenture. They don’t pay amazing though from what I’ve seen and there is not much progression

 
REbusiness1

People on here dump all over big 4 and Accenture, but they actually have good exit opps. However, if you are looking to jump right into banking, it's gonna be tough especially if you want to try for a BB.

If you want to go the banking route, your best bet is to get to Accenture or do something really unique and notable at the boutique for a couple years and do a top MBA program. Plenty of people on this site will tell you big4 and Accenture can't get into top MBA programs, but it's not true. If you have good credentials and put effort into your application, you have a significant chance of getting in. Relative to the business world big4 and Accenture are still "prestigious" just not as much as a BB bank.

If you chose to go private equity, depending on your relevant experience, you could probably land at a MM to LMM firm straight from Accenture or big4. It would be challenging but smaller shops are much more open to that sort of thing. If you want to go to a larger PE shop (UMM to MF) , you would most likely have to go the banking route or do MBB and go to a PE shop that recruits directly from MBB.

You could also definitely land a strategy position at many companies out of Accenture. They don't pay amazing though from what I've seen and there is not much progression

Thank you, this is really insightful. Opportunity to move to PE is quite exciting as well, obviously with a lot of effort and drive put in. But I'm assuming comp will still be lower compared to those moving from IB ?

 

Your comp should be the same generally. Usually if you make it to a fund, they are not gonna pay you less than another associate/analyst because you came from somewhere else. Generally though you wont make it to a top tier PE fund though which in a sense would generally mean you would get paid less. Relative to the other PE associates/analysts you are hired with, you would make the same in most cases unless your fund is weird. 

 

I've worked at Accenture Strategy and an MBB. Honestly, you can go most places MBB can go. That being said, the difference in effort is huge. 


Let's say you want to join Microsoft's Corporate Strategy team. At Accenture, you network with the right partners to be on the right cases. You take courses tailored to tech strategy, you network like hell and tailor your resume to that experience. With enough persistence, you can get the job. At MBB the recruiter messages you on LinkedIn and you're in consideration as long as you're interested.

 

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