Considering Offers from Accenture (TC) and Deloitte (BTA)... Please weigh in!

I will be graduating in May with a degree concentrated in Finance & IT. My ultimate goal this recruiting season was to land a consulting job at a premier consulting firm, preferably in true strategy consulting; clearly I will not be doing pure strategy/management in either case.

I currently am considering 2 offers: (1) Business Technology Analyst with Deloitte focused on the public (federal) sector & (2) Technology Consultant in the specialty area 'IT Strategy and Transformation' with Accenture focused on the private (commercial) sector. Deloitte's equivalent practice would be 'Technology, Strategy, and Architecture,' but they do not align you until after you've accepted.

Ideally, I would choose the company-position combo that would have the highest business:technology ratio (more business/strategy related work).

My questions for the community are:
- How do the firms compare overall (in your opinion)? Please feel free to share any experience you've had with either firm as well.

  • Which firm would allow for the more business-focused (over tech-focused) work overall?

  • Which firms would most likely allow for informal movement to projects under S&O for Deloitte or MC for Accenture (i.e. staff myself on a project within these areas as a BTA or TC)?

  • Which firm would most-likely allow formal movement from the technology area to their actual strategy practices (move to S&O/Business Analyst for Deloitte or Management Consulting for Accenture)?

Please feel free to tackle any or all of my questions above and/or provide any additional insight that you feel may be relevant. I really appreciate anything you're willing to share!

 

Both are tech consulting, and almost equivalent roles. There is no 'strategy' consulting involved in tech consulting. Also, you will probably need to get a top tier MBA if you want to take a shot at recruiting for strat consulting firms.

In this case, I would take the offer with higher pay, or whichever one that lets you stay in your desired location.

 

Although I understand neither Deloitte nor Accenture are big 3 strategy firms, both make distinctions for their more 'strategy-esque' practices (BTA vs. BT & TC vs. MC). That is what I am looking refering to now in the short term. B-school and movement is a little ways down the road...

Also, compensation packages are comparable and both would be located in the greater-DC area.

Any opinions welcomed; thanks.

 

Although I understand neither Deloitte nor Accenture are big 3 strategy firms, both make distinctions for their more 'strategy-esque' practices (BTA vs. BT & TC vs. MC). That is what I am looking refering to now in the short term. B-school and movement is a little ways down the road...

Also, compensation packages are comparable and both would be located in the greater-DC area.

Any opinions welcomed; thanks.

 
Best Response

Zach,

Firstly, congratulations on the offers. I know the BTA role fairly well, and have talked to those in a similar position at Accenture. From purely anecdotal evidence, I've heard Deloitte affords a more sustainable lifestyle. That being said, I would echo what others have pointed out that the tech side of things =/= strategy. Can you move from the tech side at Deloitte to the S&O side? I think that it's certainly possible, but it will take a lot of networking and footwork, especially if you are trying to go from Federal Technology to Commercial S&O.

Overall, I would do some personal research using your alumni network. Are their people from your school who are involved in the MC or S&O wing of these companies (most likely, they are both huge)? Perhaps reach out to them and ask them if they've seen people move through the company in the path you're considering. I've found that alumni are definitely the most helpful if you're truly looking for information on career paths (and not just resume referrals).

 

The closest that you'll generally get to moving to MC from TC or BA from BTA will most likely be getting staffed on projects that, using Deloitte as an example, will have BTAs working alongside BAs and HC guys. Even on these engagements however, the niche of work that you'll carve out will be more technology/implementation oriented than anything.

As pointed out above, networking once you're already in will go a long ways into getting your foot in the door, but officially moving from BTA -> BA or TC -> MC within the few years before b-school is exceptionally difficult. Not quite a perfectly analogous situation, but within Accenture it is hard enough to move from federal to commercial work within the confines of their MCDP program - jumping from TC to MC is an even greater jump. Your best bet is to talk to as many Accenture and Deloitte folks as you can and getting a feel for how heavily tech their projects are.

Are you considering an MBA to change career paths?

 

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