I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Accenture (London, England) in Mar 2010
Interview
Originally started with a phone interview. During this interview I was asked to provide examples throughout my time at University, or outside of university where I have demonstrated skills that they look for. Examples of these skills include where one has taken a leadership role, when one has worked in a team, when one has managed to deal with large amounts of pressure or things going wrong, when one has had to take the initiative themselves and choose their own direction.
After getting through this phone interview, the next stage was to go in for two personal interviews. One with a technical manager in the technology solutions department, and another with a person from Human Resources.
The technical interview went over my understanding of technical issues such as the development lifecycle, my understanding of certain technologies, but focused mainly on concepts that could be applied, or built upon where I to join them.
The HR interview was very similar to the phone interview, but in this case done face to face rather than over the phone.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
This is a roleplay, where I am a client, and you are the representative in this meeting. You have spent months creating this set of computers for me, of which I want a few thousand. It has everything that I asked for in the contract. I want it red, but you've made them all blue
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Accenture (London, England) in Nov 2009
Interview
Pros
Accenture is a good career starter out of university, as it has a good brand name and begins with a good training curriculum. The salaries for new joiners out of university used to be very good (becoming less so). Good amount of vacation time and good healthcare. Travelling, although tiring after a while, can be exciting for new Analysts and Consultants.
Cons
The pay has been severely degraded over the last few years, making the salary not so competitive with the market. All the good people are smart enough to leave early, and the very bad people are managed out, leaving a group of mediocre managers and senior managers (with a few exceptions). Once you become specialised in one area, the company will not support you to transfer to another area or learn new skills.
Advice to Senior Management
Don't lose your best people - make sure that you reward and pay them to keep them around! Make sure that bueaurocracy does not interfere with a flexible consulting model, and continue to train and develop your employees to get the best out of them