Accenture - working for?

[RidgewayPele]

Never worked for Accenture, but done work for some of the other big boys. They absolutely rinse their staff, but I've never had any issues as a Contractor - the one insane project I did do I sent such a ridiculous invoice that I panicked and genuinely thought they were going to stiff me somehow (They didn't).

Wouldn't touch em as a permie, but *shrug* a contracts a contract and it's only going to be a few months of your life. Make sure overtime is paid and that the weekend rates are decent.

I'd agree with this. If you are a permie they work you to death, seem to have a lot of bright grads who they make work 100 hour weeks then after a few years the grads bugger off with Accenture on their CV's to do other things. I think contract would be fine and I'm sure the opportunities to bill a small fortune would be there as they always seem to be involved in those big IT sinkhole projects.

[Bee]

There was that impression that I got, that those who had reached 30 and were still there were destined for senior roles. They seemed to like their meetings a lot too, as well as being overly aggressive with non-Accenture people.

It's true.
I had a colleague from the University that joined Accenture ending up working for the same client as me. When he wanted to give me a Chrismas card, he gave it to me hid in the stairs because he was not allowed to mix with other consultants. Their nickname was robots, crap culture and definitely not for me.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Anyone got any experience of?

I've heard stories they are strange with mega long days expected etc. They seem to pay fairly well but I'm too old for this sort of thing all the time.

(and also its all well and good having a daily rate 1.5x normal but not so good when your day is 2.0x as long).

Just be wary that you could be walking into a right royal Indian clusterf*ck. Dealing with that on top of 4 hours + commuting is likely to drive you to a nervous breakdown.

It may be a good rate but you have to ask yourself how long am I going to be able to put up with all that shizzle? I did 3 months with Crapita on a really good rate but I couldn't take any more and turned down their offer of extension. I was then out for 2 months.

Would have been better to have accepted something on a lower rate closer to home. At least it would have been tenable in the long run.

[SeanT]

What is your area of expertise PS? Asking for a friend...

[DallasDad]

AC was the best company I had ever worked for at the time
I was based out of Temple
Great Lotus Notes based Knowledge Exchange
Good salary
Excellent management structure.
Transparent pay scales and clear guidelines re how to get to the next grade.
I went to the cloning school in Chicago - so came out with a Grey suit like everyone else
Free training by Franklin to use a FiloFax properly
Not a shredder in sight then, Uncle Arthur was still saving up to bulk buy them
Oh btw it was 1996.

I face off to todays modern AC at my current client co mostly out in Manila somewhere.

[SueEllen]

I face off to todays modern AC at my current client co mostly out in Manila somewhere.

Are they more proactive than Indian graduates?

[SussexSeagull]

I worked with Accenture back in my permanent days and they have the rare gift of doing 16 hour days, always looking busy and walking round like they owned the place without ever getting anything done.

One of the managers was making calls while in labour with a child. They all thought it great. We all thought it monstrous.

[meridian]

Are they more proactive than Indian graduates?

I've worked with Accenture a few times, and the Philippines office is better by a long chalk. They actually want to do decent unit testing, rather than just follow a test script and not think outside the box.

[SeededLoaf]

As a contractor I wouldn't mind but definitely not as a permy. 4 years of my earlier career spent at Accidenture working 12 hour days. They are all about powerpoint presentations and if they actually deliver anything it's down to brute force and luck.

Ask for a grand a day. A nice round sum.

[psychocandy]

Hmm. Really not into trying to impress people with working long hours these days.....

A good rate is not so good if you're working 12 hours+ per day. Also, I have no intention of killing myself doing so.

Always the problem with this PWD thing at some places.... If the permies are working 12+ hours for free then they're going to expect the same from highly paid contractor and not be too keen when they moan about it or expect paying extra.