Accenture Technology consulting what do they look for?

davephpcss

Hey I know there is a similar thread regarding Technology solutions and after reading the post I'm now a bit nervous!, I have decided to make a new thread as the title may attract some help,
I have an interview very very soon with Accenture in Technology consulting and am trying to prep for the first round interview now!, working 9-5 does not help.

I decided to go for Technology consulting because I think I have a very good overview of allot of the IT infrastructure, now reading the threads i'm wondering if I should have applied for Technology solutions also :O,

I'm a decent programmer, but don't see myself sitting programming for the rest of my life infront of a desk, a mixture of both meeting with clients and coming up with a viable solution to be being part of a team that implements the solution would be my ideal job, I know spending one week with a company like accenture I would have a much better understanding of the roles of the different sectors, I do not get a great feel a description of the jobs from just reading online maybe someone can help me out.



Thanks!

Accenture Careers Ireland

Hi,

Firstly, there is often a lot of confusion regarding the differences between Technology Consulting and Technology Solutions. There is a lot of overlap between the two career paths, but In a nutshell the differences are:

Technology Consulting hires from ALL degree backgrounds, including Computer Science, Business, Engineering etc.
Technology Solutions requires some background in Technology.

Both career paths are typically client facing and you will spend most of your time working on client site, helping clients with technology problems and working to deliver large scale technology projects. Those in solutions will typically focus their career on technology roles, development, architecture, testing etc. Those in technology consulting may also work in those roles, but a significant number (particularly those without a technical background) tend to work in areas such as business analysis and project management.

If Infrastructure is where you have an interest, our Infrastructure practice sits within our technology consulting practice, but there is also a lot of overlap, and a number of our solutions workforce also use these skills. If this overlap sounds confusing I'd suggest you go with the advice offered elsewhere in this thread and discuss it with your interviewer, state you are interested in both and ask to be considered for wherever you might fit in best. They'll also be happy to answer any other questions you have.

There are some things that might be worth reading on our website:
http://graduateanalyst.wordpress.com/ - Is a blog being maintained by one of our recent joiners to technology consulting.
http://careers.accenture.com/Microsites/ireland-graduate-joiners/graduate-opportunities/Pages/day-life.aspx - Is a description of a typical day in the life of somebody in technology consulting.
http://careers.accenture.com/Microsites/ireland-graduate-joiners/graduate-opportunities/Pages/ats-profile.aspx - Same but for technology solutions

On your second question as to what we look for... I'd suggest preparing for the following in advance of your interview for technology consulting (note the format is a bit different for solutions):
- We conduct a competency based first round interview. It won't be very technical, but will be moreso focussed on the experience you've highlighted in your CV and the strengths we look for. Example questions are things like "Tell us about a time you've led a team", "Tell us about a time you had to overcome a difficult situation". Know your CV well, and thing about the strength or characteristic you are trying to sell with each item in your CV.
- I would highly suggest reading up about Accenture. The biggest thing that people fall down on is coming in for interview without understanding much about what we do. A good read of our website along with potentially glancing through recent stories mentioning the company on popular news sites would do no harm
- While we don't expect people to have technology in their degrees, we do expect people to have an interest in and recognise the importance of technology in business. If interviewing for technology consulting, would strongly suggest you read up on recent trends. I'd emphasise we don't expect people to have particular skills (though they can be an asset), we do expect enthusiasm for this area.

That's some initial thoughts for now. Happy to do our best to answer any questions.

Regards,

Accenture Graduate Recruiting Team

davephpcss

Thank you so much for the information provided, The area which proved hard for me to figure out and to prepare was as you stated they both have an overlap, I know for the Technology solutions they are looking for a specific type of person and one may portray their IT skill sets and past achievements in this area, for Technology consulting due to the fact they hire from multiple disciplines I guess they are looking for people with all rounded skills, an ability to adapt and to come across as extremely good communicators.
I will research more on the links you provided and hopefully get a good sense of the type of person Accenture are looking for .

Thanks again.

Joeonion

Hi Davephpcss, I saw your query there relating to Accenture and feel its important you know exactly what you're letting yourself in for. What will happen is that ACN will hire you, put you on a project that has nothing to do with your skills and for the 1st 3 years of your ACN career, treat you like you know absolutely nothing. I assume if you're working at the moment, you'll be applying as an experienced hire and I can tell you that you will not be given the correct level of responsibility, commensurate with your experience.

Also, unless you devote your time exclsuively to the firm, which includes attending out of hours events, on an almost weekly basis, then your career will not progress. You could be the best programmer / project manager / consultant ever, but if you don't hob knob with the in crowd, you're goosed.

There are some great people working for Accenture Ireland, don't get me wrong, but the culture requires you to sell your soul and if you've any modicum of self respect, I would steer clear.

There are plenty of smaller firms, particularly in the software industry, that are hiring consultants / PM's now where the renumeration package is much better, the work life balance is even and there's no vulture culture.

Joe

davephpcss

Joeonion wrote: »

Hi Davephpcss, I saw your query there relating to Accenture and feel its important you know exactly what you're letting yourself in for. What will happen is that ACN will hire you, put you on a project that has nothing to do with your skills and for the 1st 3 years of your ACN career, treat you like you know absolutely nothing. I assume if you're working at the moment, you'll be applying as an experienced hire and I can tell you that you will not be given the correct level of responsibility, commensurate with your experience.

Also, unless you devote your time exclsuively to the firm, which includes attending out of hours events, on an almost weekly basis, then your career will not progress. You could be the best programmer / project manager / consultant ever, but if you don't hob knob with the in crowd, you're goosed.

There are some great people working for Accenture Ireland, don't get me wrong, but the culture requires you to sell your soul and if you've any modicum of self respect, I would steer clear.

There are plenty of smaller firms, particularly in the software industry, that are hiring consultants / PM's now where the renumeration package is much better, the work life balance is even and there's no vulture culture.

Joe

Thanks for your honest two cents Joe, "when I get hired" I suppose that is the big question and my next interview will determine this, I do agree to some extent what you just said I suppose it is the case in many professions, you could be the smartest person in the company but at the end of the day we all know too we'll people who network in such cases and "talk the talk" tend to end up in higher positions,
I suppose a good position to be in would be to know your stuff and learn some fundamental rules, "a famous book springs to mind;)", I'n smaller companies I would think the ability to complete assigned tasks quickly and accurately would outweigh -> hey i'm the captain of the Company football team so I have networked better thus giving me a better chance to know the right people and potentially get a position over someone else that was more skilled, I can't speak for Accenture just my own insight into life and it's rarely the skilled quiet hard worker that leads the team, In an other sense the ability to be a peoples person and know the right people I would think to be a cruel aspect of consultancy.
Let's hope I can find that happy medium, I am a bit worried and got the sense that I could be assigned to jobs completely out of my scope but can only hope Acn or another company I may go to can asses my skills and put me on a job best suited and if not I suppose that company looses out at the end of the day.
I suppose you have no tips for the interview ?, I'm not holding my breath either about it, I know I'm a goddam good worker and can adapt quickly, never a bad reference but at the end of the day it's down to a handfull of minutes to know a person and to hire them I'd gladly work for free for a few weeks in Acn I would positively know they would be impressed and seems these days a strict formula has to be learnt and practiced to be hired, here's a case study now read it and answer, honestly I work better when i'm in a situation that I can take the piece away and Analyse it my own way.

InReality

Joeonion wrote: »

Hi Davephpcss, I saw your query there relating to Accenture and feel its important you know exactly what you're letting yourself in for. What will happen is that ACN will hire you, put you on a project that has nothing to do with your skills and for the 1st 3 years of your ACN career, treat you like you know absolutely nothing. I assume if you're working at the moment, you'll be applying as an experienced hire and I can tell you that you will not be given the correct level of responsibility, commensurate with your experience.

Also, unless you devote your time exclsuively to the firm, which includes attending out of hours events, on an almost weekly basis, then your career will not progress. You could be the best programmer / project manager / consultant ever, but if you don't hob knob with the in crowd, you're goosed.

There are some great people working for Accenture Ireland, don't get me wrong, but the culture requires you to sell your soul and if you've any modicum of self respect, I would steer clear.

There are plenty of smaller firms, particularly in the software industry, that are hiring consultants / PM's now where the renumeration package is much better, the work life balance is even and there's no vulture culture.

Joe

I don't think this quote is fully fair to Accenture. I work with Accenture people ( I work for the client company ) , and as far as I can see after working with them for about 6/7 years now , they often promote the best people , and are concerned to give graduates and new hires good work.

Going to any job you need to keep your wits about you , but I think the quiet type can do as well if not better in a large structured company than a smallish one.

I would not rule them out !