Technology Consulting Analyst Review

I have really enjoyed my 6 month work placement with Accenture. It has been a fantastic company to work for as an intern becuase it gives you a realistic taste of the graduate job market and the consulting industry - plus I was given a great role! It has a very positvie culture with a strong emphasis on personal development, which is very important to me.

Accenture is a huge company, however within my client account team I felt highly appreciated by my colleagues. There are no bonus points for placement students in the same way there are for full-time staff, however I was rewarded with a £150 Amazon voucher for my contribution to a side project - this example illustrates how my colleagues valued me.

I worked very closely with my Line Manager throughout my placement. Even though I was allowed significant autonomy with my work, my Manager was always on hand to bounce ideas off. We had regular feedback sessions and he was happy to incrementally increase the responsibility of my tasks, enabling me to challenge myself.

Consulting can be very cyclical, it is common to experience very intense periods followed by more relaxed periods. During my placement the balance seemed to be very good, I was happy to put in longer hours if needed and I never had nothing to do. During less busy periods I could work on side projects or spend time doing online training.

I was given significant responsibility on my placement - the responsibility increased once I had earnt the trust of my Line Manager and the client. I had high client exposure and was even delivering hour-long sales demonstrations / presentations to the client's suppliers. In addition, there were several project activities that I was independelty responsible for.

The skills I developed will defintiely benefit me in the long term, for both my final year of university and for future roles. Accenture provides an abundance of training resources and the whole first week was training where many transferable skills were developed including presenting, excel, networking. In addition, For example, my Manager was proactive in encourageing me to strengthen my weaknesses.

I used to work in a start-up and the atmosphere at Accenture was defintiely more formal in comparison. Everyone at Accenture is very friendly, sociable and openly willing to talk about their experiences. I think there was a strong balance between it being a great atmosphere, withtout the fun being too distracting from the tasks at hand.

The work placement was very well organised. Accenture seem very expeirenced at running and hosting placement schemes. There are staff in HR dedicated purely to the placement students who make sure that every detail is known with regards to important dates and tasks etc. There is a clear structure in place and it is very effective.

The firm places a strong focus on personal development and offers plentiful training resources. There are thousands of courses to discover that Accenture offers - the only trouble is dedicating enough time to take them. Accenture organises an induction weak full of training sessions - due to the nature of the work is important that you are trained to meet their high standards and maintain their reputation.

Very appealing future employment prospects - this is evident by the very high proportion of previous interns / palcement students who decide to accept their graduate job offer. Despite it being a huge company, if you work hard there is serious potential in quickly climbing through the ranks and progressing to a senior role at a relatively young age.

I knew many of the fellow placement students already as we study on the same univseristy course - so inevitably there is a good social scene. Accenture also hosted events for all placement students to meet each other and network over drinks etc. The social scene with my colleagues was strong, the team was small so everyone is close.

I worked in London, so obviously the cost of living is very high compared to other parts of the UK, especially as I lived in Shoreditch. Rent is the most severe expense, although if you have a busy social life then it can be very expensive. Despite being an expensive city, you still have the opportunity to be savy with your spending habits.

London has a great, diverse and vibrant nightlife. Due to its large size, there is definitely something for everyone & the city caters everyone's different tastes. Not everywhere is as expensive as people commonly think. Teams at Accenture regularly made use of this as there are many great pubs and bars around.

There are endless opportunities to get involved in outside of work. Both the area and Accenture offers a wide range of different activities to participate in. There are many sports clubs, activity clubs, culture apreciation societies and a multitude of volunteering options. In addition, if you feel there is an activity missing, you can make one.