Accenture Reviews in San Francisco, CA Area

Pros

- 25 paid days for vacation (although you don't have sick days separated out)
- tons of company benefits, discounts to tickets, 15% ESPP discount,
- Mileage and hotel points for car rents, travel expense, etc.
- High caliber individuals, bright and hard working
- Large firm with experience across multiple areas from strategic development, project implementation, outsourcing management, IT implementation, process design, etc.
- Large network of co-workers around the globe, people you can reach out to talk about anything
- Constantly working to improve the company, high efficient management in developing shareholder value

While many people have given reviews of their experience at Accenture, I'd start by saying that because Accenture is such a large company with many different groups, located in different geographies, performing different work, at different pay scale, one shouldn't take any specific positive or negative reviews. The experiences of any one individual can be vastly different from another.

With that said, I think Accenture is a great place for anyone to start out fresh from college. I've had the chance to work across multiple industry on various projects from strategic visioning sessions with C level executives to detailed design and project implementation. While many individuals have noted that Accenture is traditionally an IT implementation shop heavy on the technical side, I would caution that by saying Accenture also has offerings in many other areas.

Is Accenture better than the MBB? In many areas, the answer is clearly no. For one, there is a brand difference. But I wouldn't necessarily say that the individuals I've work with at Accenture are any less bright than ones I've met from MBB. Would I have traded up to MBB if I had the chance? Probably, but that isn't to say I don't value the things I've learned at Accenture. The partners I've worked with are smart, honest, hardworking, and willing to spend the time to teach and mentor junior staff. I honestly believe that two years at a consulting company provides more experience than two similar years in any industry.

Cons

- Service industry, can be at the beck and call of clients
- Travel can become tiresome (e.g., 6 hour red-eye flights, 12-20 hour days)
- Projects can be boring (but at least they are sometimes short)
- Large firm means you have to drive your own career, no hand holding
- Bureaucratic at times, many levels of management
- Pay is not at the top compared to other firms

There are down sides of any consulting company. Key ones at Accenture are no different than any other service industry where you can be at the mercy of your project manager, client manager, and/or client/project. Hours can be long, sometimes requiring overnighters. Competition within the firm can be very fierce because everyone is an A player. They pay doesn't rise as fast as private firms. The lifestyle isn't conducive to family and friends.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider implementing 360 feedback for management. Set higher hiring standards. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Think about the core values that we stand for every day.

Pros

variety of projects, build skills and knowledge

Cons

long hours, no work life balance

Advice to Senior Management

make newbies feel more relevant to the success

Pros

Great people around your level
Lot of different companies that you can consult at.
Being paid while on bench waiting for next opportunity.

Cons

Pay is way below competitors
Career advancement is limited if you are not part of the "club"
Accenture no longer provides good compensation for local commuting.
Equity sharing is a joke.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit always serving your own agenda.

Pros

People, experience, some of the benefits package. You work with other people like yourself, and you work at major clients. It can be challenging and fun at the same time. There are always opportunities to make working a more valuable learning experience, while also working with smart individuals who generally like to have fun. The assortment of clients and work demand can also take you to different cities (and many times different countries), which can be exciting opportunities for those interested in that sort of thing. Additionally, starting a job there with 25 days of PTO is very compelling for those who like to use it.

Cons

Performance evaluation always forced awkward ratings and the perception (and sometimes reality) of unfair assessments. Work/Life balance was an afterthought at some clients. Project situations will always differ from client to client, but I feel like this could be managed better to keep people from working very many weekends.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on the people. Continue striving to make it a great place to work, and not just in a few categories of "work;" in all aspects.

Pros

If you can't get a job anywhere, then you can consider working here.

Cons

Ridiculously low compensation. Mediocre benefits. Promotion is based on stepping on people to make yourself look superior, lying and sucking up, which they call team building.

Advice to Senior Management

Resign.

Pros

Exposure to different clients, get to work with highly motivated and hard working individuals.

Cons

Compensation not upto market standards.

Advice to Senior Management

Laddering process has to be reviewed and changed

Pros

The facilities were nice and the pay was good

Cons

The HR in new business was inept

Advice to Senior Management

Sell Something

Pros

The great people - truly intelligent and people savvy. I've worked at several companies (both in industry and through consulting) and have found that Accenture is truly unique in how it's able to manage 180,000 people.

The internal knowledge sharing at Accenture is also stellar compared to other companies I've worked for (and also compared to other consultancies from what I've heard through others). Additionally, the ability to work in different industries and in vastly diverse roles (dependent on how aggressive you are at networking) is also a great reason to work for Accenture.

Hands down, I would return to the firm if given the chance.

Cons

Long hours, long hours, long hours. The work/life balance at Accenture (and is just the dogma of consulting) is non-existent. When you have a deliverable that's due, you have to burn the midnight oil, lose your personal life, and age beyond your years.

Since there are so many intelligent, type A people at Accenture, it's hard to come out as outstanding during review time. Even though you may be a mega superstar on all your projects you may come out with just a meets expectations rating at year end review. It's definitely a hard concept to digest - knowing that you're working for peanuts (but you do get awesome experience!)

Advice to Senior Management

Give your people a work/life balance!

Pros

Training - the core competency academy training at St. Charles is well thought out and effective. The training is focused, intense and informative. The instructors appear to actually care about the material and the success of the students.

Compensation - Compensation is comparable to IBM GBS. I received a signing bonus when I joined ACN in 2008, which was a nice perk. The benefits are competitive for a firm of this size.

Colleagues - Senior Managers and Senior Execs were mostly good, well-educated and knowledgeable about their industries and practices. Upper management did not communicate very well, but seemed to be supportive of the business initiatives and goals.

Cons

Staffing - My HR representative was a joke. He had no knowledge of my practice area (SAP), and little understanding of how consulting engagements work. I seemed to be a lot better at getting project leads and making connections with engagement leaders than he was. During our weekly calls, he would always repeat his mantra of "I'm doing everything I can for you." Unfortunately, his idea of "everything" was somewhat less than one would think. During the 4 MONTHS I was on the bench at Accenture (and I was a top tier manager at IBM before joining ACN), he came up with one potential engagement for me...in Nigeria. He then suggested I look at projects outside of SAP (I have 10 years functional and technical SAP experience). I was basically blown away that this company couldn't find a project for a certified Manager with 10+ years of SAP and Big 4 experience, and a top 10% performance rating coming from IBM.

Communication - Corporate communications were limited to fiscal results and a few insignificant company initiatives. Request for feedback from employees was nil.

Advice to Senior Management

Value the knowledge and experiences being brought in by experienced hires. There is more to consulting than just the "Accenture way".

Assign HR reps who know what they are doing and understand the consulting industry.

Don't waste experienced hires' time and value by letting them sit on the bench.

Pros

Accenture is a great place for those who want to feel challenged every day. There is rarely a day where I am not pushed out of my comfort zone and learning something new. I feel like I have matured professionally at 3x the rate of my peers who are working in the corporate world.

Cons

If you don't like a changing environment or you don't like to travel, then Accenture is not the place for your.

Advice to Senior Management

I would re-empahsize the core values are not just written but to be lived at Accenture to the increasing number of experience hires that have become part of Accenture. Some of these experienced hires don't understand that at Accenture, just becuase our competitors act in the gray area of ethics, we do not. They also lose sight of the fact that people are our most important asset and that their professional development and desires must be balanced with business need. This is still a minority within Accenture, but it is one that has the potential to push our culture in a direction that will make us no better a place to work than our competitors.