Accenture Reviews in Florham Park, NJ

Pros

I love to work for Accenture becuase of People

Cons

I thinkg it has no authentic leadership

Advice to Senior Management

Look into practice consulting

Pros

People, Learning experience, Exposure to variety of disciplines

Cons

Work life balance, Compensation, Frequent travel

Advice to Senior Management

Increase compensation and improve work-life balance

Pros

To become the launching pad for your career. To have great training and understanding how to tackle difficult tasks with a short period of time.

Cons

A confusing promotion and evaluation process.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more attentive to the needs of analysts and consultants.

Pros

You'd be hard pressed to find another job where you'll meet such a multitude of people from different backgrounds, races, etc that are your age with a similar career mindset. I also can't think of a job with 5 weeks of vacation for new college grads (who ironically don't have the money to go anywhere with that kind of time).

Cons

Accenture's ability to promote completely mediocre people is truly astounding. They have these claims like "Meritocracy", "Up or Out", and "Best People". To be honest, from everything I've seen, there is a large talent gap between the pre-IPO Management and the lower level managers who will presumably take over. The longer I worked there, the more people I met that I truly respected...and then promptly watched large portions of those people leave. Being on large implementations (Accenture's bread and butter) gives you a strong feeling of being another warm body.

Advice to Senior Management

Fire incompotent people- don't just pass them to another project. If you're going to have a 20% attrition rate, why not work on dumping the underperformers and paying the stronger employees more? Try to create a place that people don't view as a "stepping stone". When I talk to Google people, I don't hear them saying "yeah, it's ok for now". As a final note, stop letting managers refer to themselves as "executives"...it makes most normal people roll their eyes.

Pros

Accenture has an extremely diverse workforce and seems to find fitting roles for a wide variety of experience levels. Accenture is the kind of company that has a life-long career advancement plan in place for those who wish to pursue it. Accenture strongly emphasizes volunteering and corporate governance. There are many opportunities to help out in the community and get sometimes this weighs favorably in performance reviews.

Accenture affords everyone the opportunity to align to an industry skills group, and this leads to greater networking and a way to specialize and stand out. Community meetings are also a great way to meet folks who are doing work similar to you.

Cons

Generally speaking, your work experience is defined by your client. If you are working on-site and that client happens to be extremely particular about work hours, expensing travel, and is generally hard to get a hold of, life can be difficult. As you become more senior in the company, you become the voice of Accenture and must resolve any disagreements with the client, and these discussions can be complicated and painful. Thankfully, senior partners are generally excellent at dispute resolution and are able to handle most situations like this. People complain about the salary, but in truth, salaries are quite competitive. Overtime is a nice perk for Analysts and Consultants.

Advice to Senior Management

I find it bothersome how disconnected many resources at the Analyst and Consultant level feel - this shouldn't be the case. Community meetings should be more heavily to transfer knowledge from the most senior folks in the company to newer resources, who are more likely to leave the firm.

Pros

The paid time off policy is best I've seen (25 days and can be used for vacation or sick days, which works great for a young, healthy workforce). Right away it becomes very evident that your peers are some of the best and brightest (and most motivated) and that you will fit right in. There is a strong emphasis on 'Best People' and it shows. The growth prospects is the number one reason to remain with the company. It seems that everyone is practically pushing you forward. Personal growth is not something one needs to fight for at Accenture, its something that is required. The clients that Accenture works with are the best in their industry, and you are constantly reminded that you work for the best in your industry. Travel opportunities are far beyond anything you find at other companies as well. Accenture is certainly not for the unambitious.

Cons

For the very reason that Accenture is a great place to work (well respected, surrounded by hard working individuals, constant growth, lots of travel), it can be a not-so-great place to work. There is a constant pressure of performing. The 'up or out' policy can have you looking over your shoulder, and can sometimes turn your peer into your enemy. A lot is expected of you, and if you don't meet those expectations, it will not be a happy experience. Travel can become very tiresome and repetitive, you have to have it in your heart in order to be happy. Accenture is not a place to 'settle down' into a career.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to more of the specifics that employees provide. The annual engagement surveys are addressed, but everything is generalized. It can be difficult for a specific voice to be heard. Be very specific about how employee complaints are being addressed. Recognize the difference between the Management Consulting and Technology Consulting.