Pros
Accenture has provided me with many opportunities and challenges over the past 10 years. Historically, Accenture hired smart, well-rounded people out of college and taught them the technology they needed to perform in their consulting roles. The thought was that it's easier to take these smart and well-rounded people and teach them technology, rather than try to teach a deep 'techy' the soft skills needed to put them in front of a client. As a result, Accenture has many of these Type A smart, and now very technical, executives and technical leads left over from that era that are the backbone of the company, and is a great pool of talent to work with and learn from. Over time, however, Accenture has gone away from this hiring strategy (in favor of hiring cheaper and more vocatioanally trained technical resources) and the talent pool is draining of these type of individuals that used to drive value for Accenture and their clients, and used to be a key competitive advantage for Accenture over it's competitors. Each employee is provided with a 'career counselor' whose sole purpose is to guide you through your career, and provide independent advice and support on anything as you navigate the Accenture waters. They are also there to represent you, in addition to your direct supervisor(s), in annual performance ratings discussions, which dictate your salary increases and bonuses. If you are in a role that allows you to work on many different clients, as I have been, it gives you exposure to many different industries, technologies, and business problems. As a result, I was able to learn as much in the first 3-4 years at Accenture as many IT professionals in 10 years in an industry job where you tend to see one hardware platform, one set of standards, one network design/approach, etc. You have access to a wealth of information as an employee of Accenture through the internal "Knowledge Exchange" as well as external sources (free online training from many vendors, etc.) I'd say benefits and other perq's are in line with, or maybe slight above other companies out there. Paid Time Off of 27 days for all emloyees from Day 1 is one that sticks out, as well as a large discount directory on everything from cars to computer equipment to gym memberships.
Cons
Salaries are lower than market. Everyone I know that has left Accenture has usually received a 20% (or many times higher) raise when going to a new company, regardless of level. Our HR organization has done several 'market comparisons' and continues to assure our management that our salaries are in line with market, but the people leaving provide the proof. Although something I personally thrive on, the company has very high expectations on the employees. I have seen this be an issue for many external experienced hires, who are used to be a high performer in their previous organizations and then are rated as 'average' at Accenture. It is what you do above and beyond your defined role that sets you apart here. The senior leadership has become obsessed with moving work to offshore, lower cost locations. Although any of know this push is a market reality, it is the approach and blind way it is happening that causes the concern. Recently we have been laying off employees that are fully staffed and driving revenue to match some 'percentage' targets of numbers in low cost locations. When management is no longer dictated by business results it is time to worry. Although Accenture focuses alot of energy on work/life balance, it is not good. Partly due to the shift of work offshore, the people left onshore are doing more with less. Accenture needs to move back to the days of valuing their employees and focusing on the contribution of each individual, as relevant to their salary.