Accenture: An insider guide - Gymkhana

Opportunities for MBAs
MBAs start as experienced analysts or consultants (some MBAs with little relevant
work experience start as new analysts), and move up to manager, senior manager,
associate partner, and partner. The trip to the top could take as little as 10 years.
Insiders report some executives prefer to stay at the senior manager or manager
level if they want to stay involved with the operational, hands-on side of consulting.
Associate partners and partners spend much of the time selling the firm to
clients.
“You might be hired in strategy, [and] you’d be focused much more on analysis,”
says an insider. “You’re involved much more on the early phases of a project.
You wouldn’t be in a role at the tale end.”
Opportunities for Midcareer Candidates
Midcareer hires come into the firm at any level, from analyst to senior manager.
“It varies greatly by profile and experience,” says an insider in recruiting. Many
industry hires occur when Accenture expands and pulls in consultants knowledgeable
in a skills area or industry sector. Often they come from a rival firm or
within the industry. But consulting or industry experience doesn’t necessarily
mean you’ll enter as a manager; with just a few years of work experience under
your belt, you may still start as an analyst.
The Workplace
“We do it, but it’s usually because there’s a specific skill, and we need to have
it,” says on insider.
“It didn’t used to be common, but it’s increasingly common, because we’ve got
a lot bigger. When we’ve branched out, we’ve needed to hire for a certain
expertise,” says another insider. But experienced hires can sometimes have
difficulties. “I’ve heard people say that they have a unique expertise that isn’t
41