Choosing: Accenture/Dean/Deloitte

At this point go for culture.

Dean recruited at my school (I'm in the ACC) and they seemed like cool people. I think the only thing that really separates Deloitte/Accenture from a boutique like Dean is how many people have heard of the former versus the latter.

Given the chance, I'd rather go for a firm that was strictly strat consulting instead of an IT or Accting firm that has a strat practice on the side.

I think the point above in regards to their core focus is important. When you hear Accenture or Deloitte, strategy consulting is not the first thing that comes to mind. I'm not familiar with Dean but since you said they are a small boutique I'm assuming that's their main business.

Thanks for the feedback. I am certainly leaning toward Dean for the reasons you mentioned.

My next question is, there is a 13% difference in the compensation packages, in favor of ACN. As an analyst, how do I approach a negotiation conversation?

you could just ask for them to match your offer

What was ur offer for dean including projected end of year bonus? I'm interviewing withthem now

This one is really not as hard as you're making it out to be. I'm assuming you're one of the lucky few who got an offer for Accenture strategy. This is not the same as Accenture's outsourcing and technology practices. It's an eltie team of about 500 in the US and many clients prefer this business unit to McKinsey and Bain because they partner in the implementation process. There were a about 2000 who applied for that and they'll be offering the position only to only 13 at the most. I've never even heard of Dean and I happen to know that Deloitte recruited hundreds this year. Accenture is also the most global opportunity out of the three. If you're after prestige, I hope that puts things into perspective. My contacts at Accenture love their work, they're traveling every week and making $78,000 in their first year. Not bad for consulting.

If you're wanting to sit in a federal office for three years, Deloitte is probably the best bet, otherwise, from a position of reputation, selectivity and compensation, I would take Accenture.

^Totally biased and wrong. Do not listen. Accenture strat is ok, but def not MBB and most people hate it, just go to glassdoor or vault and see for yourself. You also make 60k and the work sucks and exit ops are bad (known as the "kiss of death").

yeah i think what ipk should've said is that Accenture's management consulting team is elite RELATIVE TO THE REST OF THE COMPANY, not to the consulting industry at large.

That brings up an interesting thought I've had: how can Accenture Strat. afford to pay MBB-level salaries ($68k+10k+relocation) when it cannot possibly be billing at MBB rates? The only plausible answer I've arrived at is that they simply hire fewer people and distribute the workload accordingly.

intj and ac11-

I worked at Dean for a couple of years; am currently in b-school at HWS. It's a good place to start your career, I think--from what I can tell, compared with classmates who went to bigger firms, you get more responsibility more quickly, and it's a fun group of people to hang out with. Feel free to send me a PM--given the size, I can't really reveal that much on a public website, since it's not that hard to figure out who I am.

I would recommend accenture, except that is what Jeffrey Chiang would pick.

Accenture you don't get compensated well, and IT consulting is shifting to outsourced work. So I would recommend to sticking with firms that give you great compensation.

I think Deloitte > Accenture... Do you really want to be with Jeffrey Chiang?

Not completely true on the compensation. $68k with 10 bonus, that's excellent for the first year and better pay than my contacts at Deloitte make (by about 15k per year). Also, Strategy is a completely separate practice from outsourcing and technology. Not certain about Piper's point on that all getting outsourced but Accenture does all of the above.