What are the chances of getting into Deloitte/Accenture

Hi guys,

Just wondering what are the chances of getting into Deloitte/Accenture technology consulting with a Canadian GPA of 3.54 for engineering master program. I know it's a bit low..but what is the reality? My undergrad cgpa was even lower so I don't even put it in my application.

I have done internships (hardware engineering, not relevant), some IT experience, and was also involved in university student associations in a target school in Toronto.

I have been facing rejections...I am not sure is it because of my GPA or I need more work on my cover letter /resume. I am targeting Toronto consulting firms.

Thanks guys, I would really appreciate some help.

 

What was your major field of study? Your GPA isn't low enough to ding you out of the gate. You're looking at the right firms - may I make a suggestion? IBM might be in your wheel house as well. It'll really help if you had an advocate at one of these places as well. I think your experience is good enough to get a call. Network, boss.

 
JackDevlin:
What was your major field of study? Your GPA isn't low enough to ding you out of the gate. You're looking at the right firms - may I make a suggestion? IBM might be in your wheel house as well. It'll really help if you had an advocate at one of these places as well. I think your experience is good enough to get a call. Network, boss.

Thank you for your reply JackDevlin! I studied in Electrical Engineering. In fact I did send in an application for the consulting by degree program. Most of my applications are without referrals, I guess I have to network more for the up coming Jan cycle.

In terms of IT consulting, how much do the manager weigh on extra curricular work like "case competition" or student association. Should I place more emphasis on work experience or technical skills? I feel like my resume/cover letter is missing the spark that would get my foot into the door.

Thanks!

 
skyblueseven:
JackDevlin:
What was your major field of study? Your GPA isn't low enough to ding you out of the gate. You're looking at the right firms - may I make a suggestion? IBM might be in your wheel house as well. It'll really help if you had an advocate at one of these places as well. I think your experience is good enough to get a call. Network, boss.

Thank you for your reply JackDevlin! I studied in Electrical Engineering. In fact I did send in an application for the consulting by degree program. Most of my applications are without referrals, I guess I have to network more for the up coming Jan cycle.

In terms of IT consulting, how much do the manager weigh on extra curricular work like "case competition" or student association. Should I place more emphasis on work experience or technical skills? I feel like my resume/cover letter is missing the spark that would get my foot into the door.

Thanks!

As expected, your undergrad degree is quant heavy. I would imagine you would be given some leeway with your GPA as your degree is an engineering BS (or CA equiv.). Speak to your technical skills on how your classes helped you evolve a deductive way of thinking. Consultants love RESULTS. In your cover letter and CV, make sure you make them aware of what you did and how it made the project better. Also important to speak about your ability to work well with a team, etc from your past experiences. Most all of this could be considered moot if you're going in cold (no networking). Keep us posted.

 

Hey MBACFApending, sorry for the delayed response. I got through the first interview of the first round (which I feel like we could just call the first) and then got dinged after the second interview of the first round (which I feel like we could just call the second). Thought I did horrible on the first, and great on the second, so not sure why one passed me and the other dinged me...

 

I have a Canadian GPA lower than yours but have an offer for IT consulting. I did have more than "normal" amount of internships at big companies and did as much networking as possible. I lined up most of my interviews that way and that networking helped me get offers, too. So, I would not dwell on your GPA but work on networking and building a fantastic resume. Good luck!!

 

Thanks JackDevlin and static! I will certainly network as much as I can before the next recruiting cycle.

I do try to do networking, I do find people and some of them are willing to refer me for the application. However, I am wondering what other objectives do you guys suggest when I am doing networking? To be blunt, can networking with a VP or director in a big firm get me an interview at a big firm? I have always thought the recruiting processes are standard in big firms, unlike the old days...?

 
skyblueseven:
Thanks JackDevlin and static! I will certainly network as much as I can before the next recruiting cycle.

I do try to do networking, I do find people and some of them are willing to refer me for the application. However, I am wondering what other objectives do you guys suggest when I am doing networking? To be blunt, can networking with a VP or director in a big firm get me an interview at a big firm? I have always thought the recruiting processes are standard in big firms, unlike the old days...?

I def think it helps. Once a VP or Senior Manager reads over your resume and deems you a good candidate or "interesting background" he or she will def forward your resume over to HR, which is apart of the firm's overal regular recruiting process. Once that HR rep or manager sees a resume coming from a VP or higher, its more incentive for them to include you in the process and give you the time of day. Its a paper trail if you will. Down the line, they dont want that same VP to come back to them and ask what ever happened to that candidate w/o proof of actively recruiting them.

www.twitter.com/ConsultFinServ
 

I have heard from more than one senior reps that (And maybe it's a Canadian thing so it may not be the case for our American friends here) partners/seniors are more than willing to go for coffee with aspiring consultants. I think the biggest thing for me was that i didn't ask for a job or ask for an interview. I just genuinely wanted to learn about consulting and asked questions about how they got to where they are.. and i guess they took sympathy?! haha I dont know - but they offered first to pass off my resume to their colleagues to skip the structured recruitment process.

I've never tried the cold calling thing (asking out to coffee) so I can't tell you how successful that would be.. but I find 1:1 networking is so much easier and personal!

 

It's difficult to give you proper feedback without seeing your resume, but I can offer my thoughts based on what you have said.

First off, you're not in a target academic program - so that works against you. The firms have just recently started actively recruiting "Advanced Degree" candidates. Accenture and Deloitte (and most Consulting firms in the GTA) are largely recruiting for their Tech practices in the business schools (Ivey, Queen's, Rotman.) This brings up a question - how did you apply for these positions? Directly through the website? I ask because, as has been mentioned, networking is critical. You should not be applying for these jobs unless you have first made contact with people at your target firms.

Next, your GPA is important, but it's just one of the criteria the firms are using to evaluate you. I have worked with a number of students who have high GPA's, high GMAT scores, but who do not land Consulting interviews. On the other hand, one of my most successful MBA students ever, who received offers from BCG, McKinsey, Bain and others (the student signed with BCG) had a GMAT score of 640 (which is not 700+!)

Your overall profile is what matters - so in addition to your grades, what is the nature of your work experience? Highly technical / project oriented? Did you deliver strong results / impact throughout your career? Did you work at a top brand-name company? Did you exhibit leadership in your extra-curricular activities? These are just some of the considerations recruiters make. As you guessed, your resume is very important in communicating your value proposition. If I were you I would take a hard look at your application.

Drop me a PM if you would like more info / help

 

Two thoughts:

1) Respectfully - This is the best 'We will keep your resume on file' I have ever heard because they ask you to reach back out to them. Its like breaking up with a SO and then saying 'hey, if we haven't found anyone better in six months then you have a chance!"

2) This is the better one. Assuming the internship is over the summer you have around 6 months until these interviews start (maybe off on the timeframe, longer the better). If this is the case, then this might be a message from HR saying that 'look, you didn't have the (insert whatever resume deficiency) we were looking for, but we still think you could be a great candidate. Work on (resume deficiency) and get back to us.

All you can do is assume its number two. I would email that person back and say something along the lines of "thanks for the consideration, would you mind sharing with me what would make me a stronger candidate? I think I would be a great fit for XYZ position and am very interseted in the XYZ space and want to work on improving my chances at ABC time"

Shows you're interested, shows you want to improve, and if they get back to you, I would email them halfway between the time you get the email back and time you would submit your resume for the inteview saying "Thanks (Person's first name) for the helpful resume advice! I really worked on what you said, and I have done 123 in the past Q months. I plan to continue doing 123 and maybe 456, I figure this will help considering the job has a lot of 789. Anyway, just wanted to keep in touch, talk to you in ABC months"

Anyway, bit of a ramble, but thats how I would approach it

"I am not sure who this 'Anonymous' person is - one thing is for certain, they have been one hell of a prolific writer" - Anonymous
 
Best Response

Well, you clearly didn't get the internship. But, in my experience, when a firm explicitly mentions that they will bring you in for a final round interview, it's the #2 situation that GoHuskies mentioned. They will most likely keep in touch with you throughout the summer and bring you in for a final round interview for the full-time position. In other words, you are guaranteed a final round interview for full-time and will not have to go through the screening and the first round interviews again. The final round interview that you will be given is probably the same one they would give to any other candidate.

This happened to me with a bunch of consulting firms during internship recruiting. They e-mailed me during the summer while I was doing my internship to see what I have been up to and confirm that I am still interested in their full-time programs. Some also brought me in for the accelerated interview program (meaning I did a final round interview with them before OCR officially started.)

This means that you are a top contender for the full-time position. With that said, there's still a good chance that you might not get the full-time offer. They aren't going to go any easier on you during the final round. So prepare just as diligently and see what happens. And appreciate the fact that you don't have to go through the screening process again, because sometimes people who did well in the internship recruiting don't even get invited back for full-time interviews. (It's rare, but it does happen.)

 

I would read this as a good sign.

There are countless things that could've happened behind the scenes that prevented the internship offer from being signed. E.g., internship given to a client's kid, to a partner's niece, to a friend... (These are all real situations I've encountered at a firm similar to Accenture.) Maybe budget got cut. Maybe the role got delayed. Keep in mind the firm doesn't have the 'luxury' of placing an intern on the beach. Once an intern is unstaffed, then it's just pure cost that won't be recovered.

I also don't think there's anything wrong w/ your resume, as others have suggested. If you can get to the first round, that means your resume is fine.

 

did u get an invite for the SLA?

below is my personal opinion and i am not fully privy to the Accenture recruiting process.

having said that, there are three buckets of internship applicants: 1. you get the internship (clearly not you) 2. you dont get the internship but get invited to the SLA (student leadership conference weekend in St. Charles, illinois - Accenture's training facility) (maybe you) 3. you get neither

if you fall in bucket 2, you have a good shot at FT position. i personally know 3 out of 3 people who didnt get the internship, came out to St charles (btw, highly recommend it), and then got a FT position.

if you fall in bucket 3 i think you are just competing against all of the other FT applicants. you have a slightly better chance since, as some other people pointed out, you have shown interest and perseverance - always a good skill to have in consulting.

 

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