Analyst Review

I had an exceptional time working for Accenture. Taking a year out to do the Horizons placement scheme was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made. I had some fantastic and unique experiences whilst I was there that I won't be forgetting any time soon. I met some amazing people and many of us still keep in touch, and I would recommend the placement to anyone leaving Sixth Form.

When working at Accenture it is almost impossible not to feel valued, which for an organisation of around 350,000 employees is no mean feat on their part. I was genuinely taken aback by how seriously they took the Horizons scheme - I was given a great deal of responsibility, very early on no less.

My managers and supervisors, on both of my projects, were very supportive. The performance review process was amended slightly for Horizons interns, so there was less pressure but still an opportunity to receive clear and structured feedback. My managers were very keen for me to take advantage of the vast amount of personal/professional development materials available to Accenture employees, and would occasionally specifically ask me to take time out from my normal work to complete a training course of my own choosing, simply for the sake of my own development.

I was usually very busy. There were occasionally days on both of my projects where I had less to do than usual, and days that were much busier than others. I was only required to stay significantly later than usual on a handful of occasions, and doing so with my teams made it very manageable. As an aside, any time this did happen, they were very accommodating with when/where I worked the following day...! Work would, necessarily, fluctuate, but my managers were sensitive to this and I did not at any point feel that I could not approach them and express any concerns I had about being too busy.

I understood that Accenture gives lots of responsibility to Horizons interns before I arrived, but I did not fully appreciate this until I was working there. My responsibilities were scaled up very quickly, with a steep but extremely manageable learning curve. My managers were always very keen to ensure that there were some processes/areas of the project that I "owned" and was responsible for, which was very rewarding.

I have many skills that I learned during my placement year that I now take for granted. Writing professionally, dealing with people diplomatically, negotiating, and organisation skills are just a few examples of things that I have taken away from my time at Accenture. These have already come in useful at University and they will be useful forever. More obvious acquired skills include working with Excel, PowerPoint, and Project, but getting a generally more professional mindset has been the most important thing for me.

At both of my offices, the workspaces were very friendly and open. Effort was often made to boost team morale and chemistry, and I made firm friends from outside the pool of Horizons interns very easily. There was very rarely any tension, and the atmosphere was just generally professional and calm. It was perhaps friendlier than I expected of such a colossal firm, but the people were genuinely very warm and helpful.

There were occasional issues with organisation or timings, but these were never left unaddressed to the point where they began to impede my work or my general experience. Effort was constantly being made to improve the experience and operation of the Horizons scheme, and I expect it to improve with each passing year.

Accenture has a large amount of resources for personal and professional development. We were given 3 charity days for our 8-month placement, which I thought was impressive, and it was made essentially mandatory for us all to do one of them together to understand the process and benefits of doing one. My managers also encouraged me to take full advantage of the resources on offer, and I was able to do training courses in things such as Data Security and Negotiation Essentials that did not necessarily have anything to do with my day-to-day work. I would have liked to have had a little bit more training before moving into my first project, but at no time did I feel under-equipped to do my job and I was perhaps just a little apprehensive getting started. Regardless, there was an opportunity for me to express this view at the end of my placement, which I did, and this may be taken into account as the Horizons training programme evolves over the years.

Extremely. I have been offered a placement on Accenture's Summer Vacation Scheme, which I am very much looking forward to. There is the possibility of getting a graduate job offered to me at the end of the Scheme, which I would find very attractive. During the placement I was able to gain a good understanding of the promotion structures in place for people at Accenture, and it seemed to me to be a place where talent can be rewarded very quickly and easily, giving a multitude of opportunities for advancement.

Absolutely. We mostly organised our own events or socials of our own initiative, but effort was made by the Recruitment team to give us regular social events provided by Accenture, which were great fun and a good opportunity to catch up with everyone who was working away / unavailable for our regular socials. The experience is of course what you make of it, but I personally had a wonderful time.

This was one thing I did struggle with during the placement year. Moving to and living in London was very difficult for me - I was moving from Manchester, and I had no relatives living in London to help me. I was only able to receive minimal support from my parents, and making ends meet was often a close-run thing. At no point was I an any serious financial trouble, but it was of course a little unfortunate working for the 8 months only to just about break even, whilst the majority of my fellow placements students, being from families living in London, kept the majority of their earnings. The Accenture in-house canteen at the FCS office was fairly expensive so I tended to take my own lunches/go elsewhere, and socialising in the City of London is, naturally, not cheap. Accenture did provide me with a 'relocation allowance' to help me with the move to London, but this was nowhere near the amount of money I spent viewing properties/paying deposit and rent in advance. I was lucky that my parents could help me in this respect, and if they wouldn't have been able to do so then I would not have been able to do the placement at Accenture. I made this clear in my exit interview and I hope that it is something that the Recruitment team will look at in the near future.

The City of London is a really fun place to socialise, but it is of course very expensive. If you know where to go, however, it can be manageable. I worked for 4 months in Newcastle, which was probably one of the best times of my life. As you might expect, the nightlife there is exceptional.

Accenture has a number of social/sports clubs, which I largely chose not to take advantage of, though they do exist. I was able to get involed with other activities outside of work which I found of my own volition - London is a huge place and there is something for everyone. Personally, I was able to find two public debating societies that I joined, which I really enjoyed doing because I'm very, very cool (honest).