Boutique Consulting Firm vs. Accenture
I am graduating in May and am weighing an offer from a small boutique consulting firm focused on telecomm vs. a potential offer from Accenture (I'm not going to have much time to decide after Accenture gets back to me so I'm trying to figure it out ahead of time). I got the impression that the boutique has a great work environment. Everybody seemed to know each other, including analysts and managers. They recruit people from top schools and have some alumni in good MBA programs. However, they don't have the brand name that Accenture does.
Will Accenture's brand name make a big difference in getting into MBA programs? Does Accenture's work environment suck? I have heard mixed reviews.
Also, I am interviewing for Systems Integration at Accenture. I'm not super interested in IT, but everybody keeps telling me that it would be easy to get management experience there or even switch tracks. Is this actually true or are they sugarcoating?
Finally, my long term goal is to do international development. The boutique does a little bit of pro bono work which is good, but Accenture actually has development programs. Either way I will probably be going to go back to school. Would either firm be better for this goal?
Sorry, lots of questions. If anybody can answer any of them I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a lot!
Wait are you interviewing for two positions at Accenture? Are you interviewing for the MCDP too?
Either way sounds like you really like the boutique shop I would go for that. From what I have heard Accenture's work environment does suck. I think you should have solid chances at a top MBA from the boutique too.
I work for Accenture, so I can try to answer some questions.
I am not sure about MBA placement, but as long as you are able to differentiate yourself with interesting projects which DO exist for sure), you should be okay. I will be going back for an MBA, but have not been applying yet. The work environment has been pretty awesome for me, but I haven't been stuck in any tech-heavy roles. Accenture is definitely not a place for people that are afraid to take control of their own situation - you must be willing to direct your own career path.
I entered Accenture in SI because I went to a non-target and MC did not recruit there. It is, in fact, super easy to get management experience in SI, since you can push towards not taking IT focused projects as long as you have a driver personality. Switching tracks is quite rare, on the other hand, and is not possible until you have had a year's worth of experience on MC projects. I did make the switch from SI to MC, but I had a particular project that was very successful and gained a bunch of senior support.
Accenture does have a strong international development program (ADP): http://www.accenture.com/us-en/consulting/international-development/pag…
It is fairly selective, and they do ask that you take a pay-cut for it, but I would imagine that it would look great for an MBA.
Also, first year analyst pay in SI for the NY/NJ offices in 2010 (when I joined) was 70K base salary, plus up to a 10K immediate bonus. End of year raises are up to 10%; end of year bonus is up to 10%. Both of these depend on bucketing.
Hope this helps!
Thanks to both of you, really helpful. I get the impression Accenture is miserable if you do poorly, and great if you do well, push for what you want, and network hard.
Would working at the boutique hurt my chances with employers outside of their area of expertise? Would it hurt my chances with top generalist firms? I thought I read somewhere that MBB like to avoid people who have specialized in a particular industry, I don't know if that's true.
I only applied for SI. I'm an engineer and at our career fair a recruiter told me they really only hired engineers for the SI position. I don't know if that's really true in retrospect. It's ok though, I thought it worked out pretty well. The interviews for SI aren't case, and I'm not bad at cases but I think most business majors would be better than me.
This is not true. The breakdown is 50% engineers, 40% quantitative business, and 10% liberal arts.
I worded that poorly. I meant that they told me that they didn't hire engineers for MC, so I had to apply for SI or the technical track.
I would go with Accenture. International presence, well known, lots of room to move up and opportunity to move within the organizations operating units. The thing is, your career at Accenture is what you make of it. You need to be proactive and network like a ninja and you will be able to move your career in whatever direction you want. Networking at Accenture is extremely easy...235,000+ employees, mandatory trainings at the global training site where you meet and train with people from all over the world. I just got back from a training program and I have so many new contacts around the world to reach out to for potential projects, I don't know what to do with them.
I haven't experienced any negative work environments, but I'm sure it happens. But, it happens everywhere. You have expect that not everyone is a perfect coworker. The amount of travel varies. Depends on what project you are on and where you home office is. They try to staff locally first, but obviously that doesn't always happen.
You can get in to MC from SI. You just need to let it be known that you want to do that and you need to see if you can get staffed on MC projects. I, in fact, know a kid that did exactly that. Maybe it doesn't happen a lot, but it can. I'm in SI, my background is finance and economics. But, that does not mean that any role I take will be technical. In fact, it wouldn't be difficult to never get a technical role as an SI analyst. I look mainly for Biz analyst roles on projects. And if you do get a technical role, they will make sure to train you, trust me on that. You won't be thrown into a role that you can't perform, that's no good for anyone, you, Accenture, the client. And trust, Accenture knows how to train their people.
Hope this helps. If you have specific questions, ask.
Accenture SI vs Strategy Consultant at Boutique IT/Outsourcing firm (Originally Posted: 07/31/2013)
I'm currently a consultant with Accenture SI, and recently got an offer as consultant with the strategy and advisory department of an boutique IT/Outsourcing firm. Compensation is pretty much similar and working hours is also similar. Just wondering if I should take it or continue to stay with ACN?
Pros and Cons of ACN SI: -Decent brand (has helped me land MBB interviews) -Stable career progression (make manager in another 2-3 years) -Mind numbing work at times -Training opportunities -Opportunity to learn about project management, team leadership -Exposure to F500 clients
Pros and Cons of Boutique: -No name boutique -No guarantee of career path -(Probably) more interesting work within the strategy/business consulting side -No training opportunities or benefits -Opportunity to learn more about business/strategy, C-level issues -Exposure to smaller clients
What is your end goal? Where do you want to be in the next 10 years? Will the different experiences at the boutique make you more suited for the job you want in the future? How soon are you going to start a family? How important is stability?
Lots of questions to consider, only you can make the decision.
If you are thinking of going to business school, I would probably stick with Accenture
Long term I am looking to transition into maybe operations or IT consulting within MBB (Mck BTO?) or other tier-2 firms (Roland/ATK/Booz). Business school is also an option down the road.
Keeping in mind my career goals, does the experience with Accenture bring more value to the table as compared to strategy consulting within a small IT boutique? I am aware that the Accenture brand, even though its mainly SI work we do, does help open alot of doors (this is true in the geographic region where I'm based anyway)
How large is the boutique? I find it odd that an IT/OS boutique firm would have a strategy arm.
I would be worried that the strategy arm may not be taken seriously w/in the firm and serve more as backfill for the large, resource intensive IT/OS projects. If this is not a valid concern, I'd go for the boutique. You already have ACn have your resume.
the boutique is about 200 in terms of headcount and the team is parked under CEO's office so it'll be pretty much C level issues that we'll be dealing with. the CEO mentioned to me in the interview that the firms culture is very startup based and still pretty messy in terms of direction at the moment.
Ah, gotcha. So it's an internal strat role, not delivery. Personally, I would go for the boutique, because I find the work to more interesting/enjoyable.
But would the startup culture and lack of brand name take a hit on my CV?
I would go with Accenture. International presence, well known, lots of room to move up and opportunity to move within the organizations operating units. The thing is, your career at Accenture is what you make of it. You need to be proactive and network like a ninja and you will be able to move your career in whatever direction you want. Networking at Accenture is extremely easy...235,000+ employees, mandatory trainings at the global training site where you meet and train with people from all over the world. I just got back from a training program and I have so many new contacts around the world to reach out to for potential projects, I don't know what to do with them.
I haven't experienced any negative work environments, but I'm sure it happens. But, it happens everywhere. You have expect that not everyone is a perfect coworker. The amount of travel varies. Depends on what project you are on and where you home office is. They try to staff locally first, but obviously that doesn't always happen.
You can get in to MC from SI. You just need to let it be known that you want to do that and you need to see if you can get staffed on MC projects. I, in fact, know a kid that did exactly that. Maybe it doesn't happen a lot, but it can. I'm in SI, my background is finance and economics. But, that does not mean that any role I take will be technical. In fact, it wouldn't be difficult to never get a technical role as an SI analyst. I look mainly for Biz analyst roles on projects. And if you do get a technical role, they will make sure to train you, trust me on that. You won't be thrown into a role that you can't perform, that's no good for anyone, you, Accenture, the client. And trust, Accenture knows how to train their people.
Hope this helps. If you have specific questions, ask.
Just to add on, does anyone have information on the Development sector with Accenture? I'm coming from a semi-target school (top 25), have 3-4 international volunteer projects, International Business Major & Econ minor with several finance and development courses, and will have a 3.2 GPA when I graduate (3.6+ last four semesters). My major GPA should be 3.92. With a 9 month internship with a boutique international development consulting firm do I stand a chance?
What are salaries like? And travel? Would I have a life and would I be able to take on a side job (10-20 hours a week) as a server?
If anyone has information to lead me in the right direction other than the brochure on the Accenture page, please let me know.
Development sector work is done mostly thru ADP. They don't make recruiting decisions, you join the pool after you get hired, depending on opportunity. As an analyst, you may work with the core team as support analyst. But to get on a real project, you need to be at least at the next level (so will need to be at firm for 2-3 years). To do it full time as part of the core team, you are talking about more like 6-7+ years of experience. As far as your chances, try to think of it from the point of getting a job in Accenture. Get an interview, do well, etc. Keep in mind that ADP projects are selective, getting staffed depends on timing and availability and come with a 25%-50% pay cut.
Salaries, check Glassdoor. Travel is either every week Monday-Thursday or never (if you are in town). You will have no life if you become a server (which will have to be on weekends anyway).
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