Accenture Company Reviews and Ratings

"I worked for an inexperienced project manager, but a great Director and was teaching classes in India."

Accenture Review by Contract Instructor in Dallas, TX on August 19, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

I enjoyed the opportunity to teach internationally in India. My boss was Melody Ayers, and she was excellent! I enjoyed the students that I was teaching in India and enjoyed working with everyone on my team except the Project Manager.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

The project manager who worked with us in India was one of the worst I have ever worked for. He took credit for all the work his team did and disappeared to the lunch area of the building for several hours each day to read "The DaVinci Code" or whatever other bestseller he was reading at the time. If any work that he was responsible for didn't get done because he was goofing off, he was quick to blame us for not doing the work. He was too inexperienced and lazy be a project manager for senior level people. Our Director, Melody Ayers was excellent, she was a seasoned manager with excellent skills. The Project Manager was able to hide his poor qualities when she was around and blame us for the work he didn't do.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Have Project Managers who are more senior level people, who know how to motivate and reward senior level people working on their project. They need to be more cognizant of the experience level of their project managers, and pay attention to the successes their project managers have had, and ensure that the successes are REAL and not just the project manager taking credit for what others have accomplished.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

Be very careful about the group you are working with, not every group has proven, and successful managers who know how to motivate and reward good performance from the people on their team. Some of the Project Managers are very young and inexperienced and are great at singing their own praises, taking credit for doing the actual work their team does, and not giving their team credit or recognition for their team. Accenture as a group in Dallas had a great group of people to work with, just be care of the project manager you are stuck with. The senior level ones with more experience are much better than the younger ones at apreciating and rewarding their team members.

"I described my time working at Accenture as playing Coorporate Survior. Very Political and you have to create alliances to advance. Good work exp. for fresh college grads if you can cut the lifestyle"

Accenture Review by PMO and Change Management in Denver, CO on June 02, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

I was fast-tracking working on many high level projects, and I am good infront of clients so I was put directly with many Director Level and VP clients. I also got to do dozens of different roles. My network knew I was good enough to pick up whatever role they threw at me so they always brought me on a project when available and never had hang-ups if I had the skill set they were looking for. They knew I would learn whatever I needed and was a great worker.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

The environment is way too political. I had to wait for my promotions since I wasn't on the "right project" at the "right time." I remember getting no bonus when rated exceptional due to being in the higher pay scale than my peers but then getting a 5% raise when rated Sustainable + 6 mos. later. I turned down 3 other jobs for 25%-35% raises since I enjoyed the experience I was getting, but the compensation was horrible. I got a 60% raise when I left, and I am doing similar work to what I was doing when there. I also remember being told by a partner that I should get myself certified in Oracle out of pocket if I really wanted to learn it. They tried to rehire me 1 year after learning I was working for Oracle.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Reward you best workers and don't penalize those of us who don't play golf with you on the weekends. Also, it was unfair how those of us traveling and working on projects out-side of the market were not getting promoted as often as those on local projects just because we didn't impact the managing partner's margins for the local markets. I was one of the stronger resources at my level, but I got penalized since I took a role on a project out of town instead of staying with the partner who had me on his pojects for 3 straight years and wouldn't let me leave even though it was a better career move to take the out of town role.

"Overall Bliss: Below Average"

Accenture Review by Management Consultant on April 09, 2012

What do you like about working at Accenture?

Solving client problems is fun and I enjoy the project-based nature of consulting.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

The people. 80% of them are self-important and incompetent. The other 20% keep their heads low and bring home a paycheck. Accenture does not hire people for intellectual curiosity and problem solving - they hire drones who will drink Kool-Aid and work until they burn themselves out.

What suggestions do you have for management?

The focus needs to be on delivering value to the client - not standing at their side as they languish through problems they are paying us to resolve. Rarely will Accenture actually do what they are paid to do. Bring value to the client at all levels and not just by paying lip service to the client C-levels. A more serious problem, though, would be hiring practices for the firm. Hire one good person instead of two or three poorly-equipped people. Paying better and showing more respect for a smaller number of employees will keep morale up, turnover low, and improve the overall quality of the business.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

Either aim higher and look at Bain, BCG or McKinsey or go to industry. In industry the pay will be about the same, the hours will be much more forgiving and (hopefully) you will be surrounded by people you might trust to one day not stab you in the back while getting coffee.

"Overall Bliss: Below Average"

Accenture Review by Accenture Employee on November 11, 2011

What do you like about working at Accenture?

Potential to gain experience. It's great for the 24 year old who needs work experience, has no family obligations, and likes to drink heavily; not a good place for the experienced person.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

Long work hours, lack of work/life balance. Many times the work on projects is slow, with days of nothing to do but then they expect you to work on weekends. They don't match skill sets with roles. Too much politics. Many after hours "mandatory" meetings that include too much alcohol. Not everyone likes to "network" in bars. In order to be promoted you have to participate in Accenture's charity events which does allow time for one to volunteer for their own charity. Not suitable for those with families. They expect you to give up your life to work there.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Management needs to realize that people have a life outside of Accenture. They are very disorganized and expect a deliverable at the last minute. They constantly deliver end products that have been completed on short notice with incomplete results.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

Don't interview! Find something else! If you do, make sure you have a very clear understanding of work location and hours. They tell you one thing and deliver another.

"Experience as a Steady state consultant at Accenture"

Accenture Review by Project Manager/PMO in Pleasanton, CA on October 13, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

I was engaged at WAMU as an Accenture employee/onsite consultant for WAMU for 2 years. I liked working for accenture and the support I received for my career. We also had quarterly employee events which were fun and great for team building.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

The pressure being put on us to deliver on time and on budget. We ate some costs on some projects that had to be redesigned but WAMU was very flexible in assisting with the budget and financial analysis process to acquire the funding needed.

What suggestions do you have for management?

To perform more resource forecasting to avoid roll offs and layoffs in the future.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

Accenture is one of the best companies to work for if you like consulting or traveling to distant locations. Otherwise, they have one of the best career advancement programs. The training programs are superb and management will provide you with feedback and support to help you along in your career. They also have a great profit sharing program.

"Overall Bliss: Below Average"

Accenture Review by Accenture Employee on March 21, 2011

What do you like about working at Accenture?

Worked with some great people, money was decent.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

Management will squeeze you like a turnip. Leadership will haphazardly assign a date to substantial matters then either not deliver what they promosed OR you scamble like mad to do your part in meeting a deadline and it turns out someone(s) stopped giving it that level of urgency a long time ago, it just never got to you. Lack of project management. Lack of proper planning = urgent urgent urgent.

What suggestions do you have for management?

More delivery on what you say you are going to do, stop distributing satisfaction surveys when they absolutely do not matter and make no difference. Those are just a status 'check mark' for the company. Stop using community meetings to promote Accenture's charity work and let people do their jobs. Objective setting is WAY too over engineered.

"Accenture can quickly cause physical, mental burnout"

Accenture Review by Consultant in Reston, VA on August 29, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

At the time, it was still Andersen Consulting, so the name Andersen meant you were one of the best, working for the best consulting companies in the world.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

The work schedule was terrible. For example, my worst time was living in Arlington, VA but working in Littleton, Colorado. I would fly out of Dulles Airport Sunday night, work Monday through Friday in Colorado, and fly back to Virginia. I did this from October 1999 to March 2000...everyweek for 5 months.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Don't just say "work and life balance". Back up your talk with actions

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

It's best to work for this company if you're single. It can cause havoc on you if you are married and have children.

"They treat people like a dirt. You may not have a salary raise. You may be a hard worker but this is not an option for them. It is a Soviet Style Enterprise Company where your performance depends on attending Community meetings but not a hard work."

Accenture Review by Systems Analyst in Reston, VA on June 24, 2009

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

They treat people like a dirt. You may be a hard worker but they don't care. As long as you are politically active such as attending Community meetings. Otherwise the more and better you work, the worse is for you. If you don't talk to your manager but you do your job, you may not get a good performance. That sucks. Many talented/skilled people left Accenture. Most of the Accenture teams on site are technically weak.

"Lets not forget Accenture use to be Arthur Anderson Consulting, which was part of the Enron scandal."

Accenture Review by Java/J2EE Core Developer in Austin, TX on October 16, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

That management actually believes the bull they preach, it provides limited amusement.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

Where to begin... it was fun living more hours at a State Facility than at home, I'm surprised the State didn't charge us rent. We were also the least paid branch of Accenture so I suppose we were expected to work longer and harder. The cream filling really comes in when you've got a contractor working along side you working on the exact same portion of code but they get paid 3 or more times more.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Get a tube of KY Jelly, it reduces the friction.

"Accenture San Antonio, Texas"

Accenture Review by Client Operations Lead in San Antonio, TX on August 03, 2009

What do you like about working at Accenture?

Global Company with lots of projects, opportunites, great learing website with tons of on line free courses.

What don't you like about working at Accenture?

HR Services is very chaotic not like Accenture. The turnover in Senior Management is very frequent.

What suggestions do you have for management?

Need to bring in experienced hires for Operations Management, company keeps bringing in consultants that run the division like a project not a operation. They come in an are gone in 6 months.

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

Be prepaired for general interview, skill set interview then PFI interview. Durong the PFI the interviewer will be looking for key words that indicate you will be sucessful.