The company
With around 155,000 employees in 49 countries across the globe, Accenture is the biggest consulting company in the world. It reported revenue of $18,228 million in 2006. Accenture’s focus is on technology, primarily large scale IT implementation. The company is also known for its outsourcing business.
Careers at Accenture
Starting as a part of Arthur Andersen, then splitting to become Andersen Consulting, and finally becoming independent in 2000, Accenture is showing phenomenal growth. The name “Accenture” was conceived in 2001 and it took only four years to reach top-50 on the World’s Top Brands list. As most other consultancies, Accenture felt the recession of the early 2000’s but has recovered since and it is now measuring revenue growth in double-digit numbers.
This shows in hiring too, as Accenture hired more than 40,000 people in fiscal 2006. The majority of them on graduate-level positions, as the company prefers to train its own senior staff rather than hire them. After getting such a prestigious training in IT consultancy, many employees take lucrative senior offers with clients and their competitors. As a result, Accenture has to hire hard to meet the twin challenges of double digit growth and attrition.
Accenture’s organisational structure
Accenture delivers its services and solutions through 17 focused industry groups in five operating groups: Communications & High Tech, Financial Services, Products, Resources, and Government. Accenture’s organisational structure also includes employee workforces: Consulting, Services, Enterprise, and Solutions. Accenture is a publicly traded company governed by a board of directors which has four standing committees: Audit, Compensation, Nominating & Governance, and Finance.
The careers at Accenture start with analyst and progress to consultant, manager, senior manager and senior executive.
The perspective
There is no doubt that Accenture’s alumni do very well in this world and if you want a strong IT CV, then this is one of the best places to work. Accenture’s range of work means that employees often find that a career at Accenture can be stretched to an unprecedented degree. It is a global firm which offers its alumni a brand name recognized the world over. However, it’s not all plain sailing. Accenture has a very high staff to partner ratio which means that your chances of progressing all the way are smaller than at other firms. In many ways it is the “Prosper and Grumble” of IT consultancy – the nick name of P&G when it became the best place to learn management in the world.
Accenture is one of the companies that took part in the Consultancy Careers Fair in London in October. A streaming video of their presentation at the event is available on Top-Consultant.com.
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