Pros

Giant network of people to leverage

Cons

Changes take time because company (or even project) is like a giant barge

Advice to Senior Management

I find it so frustrating that most of the employees do not know how to use the most basic Microsoft Office tools necessary to do their jobs well. Consequently, everyone spends hours and hours per year inventing workarounds that I spend hours and hours having to undo so that work can be submitted. What's even more frustrating is that no one except me realizes this is happening because I seem to be the only person responsible for undoing everyone else's mistakes.

Pros

One of the biggest recruiters of college grads.Great people,very intersting assignments,responsibilty given,team players.Oppurtunities for career diversification and growth,

Cons

Work can be hectic at times.Clients attitude can lead to problems.Sometimes have to sacrifice on work/life balance.Sometimes scope of your role might appear vague..

Advice to Senior Management

Overall a very good job done..Needs expansion in management consulting..Promotions in early part of career is currently an issue to many..

Pros

The culture at Accentue is very competitive. With the "Up or Out" model in place, you will be challenged and sometimes pushed to your limits. The training is top notch, encouraged, and a lot of fun. Outside of the top 4(M/B/B/B), the brand image of Accenture in consulting is still strong (specifically in Operations and IT). Consulting opportunities with most Fortune 500 companies. Compensation is competitive and inline with market rates for experienced hires(I was an experienced hire).

Cons

The performance review system needs some work although at most consulting firms it is a very biased process. The infamous "Story" told by each career counselor to arrive at project level laddering is often exaggerated and some of the stories are outright lies. The person who delivers the most value to the client will get trumped by the person who spends mornings, days, and nights with his or her direct manager.

The are many managers / senior managers who progressed up the chain doing PMO / spreadsheet work in the background. Although these folks have strong soft skills and understand project methodologies, they lack the industry / process skills to develop additional business and develop new hires.

There is too much emphasis on project status calls, status meetings, keeping track of progress, expected dates of completions, etc. While this may be a great job for an analyst out of college, Consultants, Managers, Senior Managers should be focused on managing client relationships and delivering value while developing skills.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the emphasis on leadership development, training, and fun community activities.

Spend more time listening to cients and delivering value rather than entrenching yourselves in internal political struggles.

Pros

Accenture is a great place to work if you are graduating from college and are looking for a job. After hire, they will train you for the capability area you are applying for and you'll take off from there. Managers are leads are very responsive to address your needs and are willing to change your roles to ensure you are happy with the work you are doing.

Cons

Accenture employs an up or out career path paradigm. They put you on management career path and rate you every year. If you do not meet the performance requirements, you are out. If you are looking for a long career in management this is the place for you. For those who looking for deep technical skills and want to continue developing those skills, you will be happy for about five years but may consider a move soon afterward to more rewarding opportunities. The rollover rate for technical skills at Accenture is very high.

Advice to Senior Management

Revamp the career paths for the Solutions workforce. For a long time the Solutions workforce models very closely to the Consultant workforce. Leads have been very aggressive about pushing Solutions employees toward management. They have to understand that technical people don't always want to follow the management career path. I would recommend making the Solutions workforce strictly technical and leave the consultant/management tasks to the Consultant workforce.

Pros

Accenture trains their personnel (I've worked for IBM prior to joining Accenture; no training there)
Accenture pays decently (my job at Accenture was a 40% pay increase from IBM)
The people at Accenture are pretty smart.

Cons

Work/Life balance kinda sucks (especially on traveling projects)
No overtime pay starting in Sept 2009
Rating system pits you against your colleagues in competitive promotion years

Advice to Senior Management

If you're going to give employees no raise and no bonus when we're still having a profitable year, you better be doing something to engage us if you want retention.

Pros

As an intern, it was a great experience. I was placed on a projec that was aligned with my background. I was also given the opportunity to ask questions about other projects and platforms of Accenture.

Cons

I just wished I could have worked on other projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Take more initiative to speak with interns on a one-on-one basis

Pros

Great opportunity to grow professionally and work on FTSE 100 clients. Always extending yourself and taking on responsbiilties you wouldn't get elsewhere. Very strong culture with high calibre professionals.

Cons

Company is growing rapidly and losing/diluting some of the strong culture that made it so successful. Large need to network and be visible amongst senior leadership for career progression.

Advice to Senior Management

Great gains have been made in growing the practice and is testament to the solid leadership. However need to be wary of trading quality of staff and culture with shareholder returns.

Pros

I got to work with a smaller office in the Bay Area. The people and management are very smart, but personable and I got to know many of my coworkers well. The work can range from very interesting, but extremely dull. It really depends on the client.

Cons

Being such a large company, it was sometimes hard to find the right person with the right information. Additionally, project management is more bottom-up focused, which can be great for gaining client experience. But it can also lead to a lack of direction.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus larger teams on fewer clients

Pros

World's best company for learning, making mistakes, adhering to true professional values, not wind. True at all levels of company. Make sure you understand the rules but if you ask and you're smart, you'll succeed.

Cons

No salary hikes this year! Yikes! Still a few bunkerized zilch value adding old farts still around - usually takes 2 years to get rid of them but they cling on to their seats for sure

Advice to Senior Management

Don't forget to treat employee salary as best as shareholder return -

Pros

bright people, great network, people will team easily to get the job done, lots of flexibility

Cons

promotion prospects are dire - not enough slots and slowing growth make things difficult.

Advice to Senior Management

force more accountability in mid/senior management levels