I recently got an offer from Accenture for their Technology Analyst position in SF. I’m wondering how it is, what you could expect to learn and potential exit opps. The long term goal would be to break into data analytics/strategy consulting. I’m a year out of college and have been working in government since I graduated as a contract specialist (series 1102) but I find the work incredibly mundane and I can’t imagine doing it long time. However, it will pay better over time (GS-12 $85k by Sept 2021) because I get annual guaranteed raises as part of the program I’m in. What’s the better choice here? TC 73k YOE ~1 ish
The probability of you moving to Strategy Consulting from TC without going to an elite (T5) MBA is pretty close to 0. Source: former ACN strategy consultant
That makes sense, but I want to go back to school to get my MBA a few years down the line so that might be in the cards. How did you enjoy ACN and how are tech analysts perceived?
@GoldenLoop: ACN is too big to generalize. It really depends on which practice you're in and who is managing your projects and which MD you do/don't develop a good rapport with. I found it painfully bureaucratic.
the data analytics (accenture digital) and strategy are two different groups in accenture. and then government contracts are under accenture federal the lead on my previous project hired someone from sfo 1YOE and offered him 130K btw for strategy, the people i come across are usually hired as fresh grads from top tier schools or someone who just got their MBA. and then when these guys go to customers they are not really technical but groomed to be good in orals, quick to learn all jargons, and experts in making slide decks. it's a totally different career path. they are more like sales in my opinion if you want to pursue being in tech stick w/ accenture digital then work your way up to principal, director, or MD level, when you reach that level you'll get into strategy/deal scenarios
My offer is under Accenture Technology, not Accenture Digital. I wouldn’t want to go under Federal due to me being in government already. Is the “someone” your lead hired also fresh out of school? I want to try to leverage my experience in federal government to negotiate a higher salary but the chances seem slim.
not fresh out of school. 1 year of experience definitely you can leverage your experience to negotiate higher offer
Offer TC? I used consulting at a Big-4 to pivot out of government and then pivoted again into tech. GS-13 is when the pay starts getting decent, but at my former agency, it takes a long time to get there. Plus it was getting boring and my learning was slowing down. Finally, no free coffee in government.
They offered me 73k but your 2nd to last sentence resonates with me a lot. What’s making the decision hard is that I’m currently on a ladder (GS 7/9/11), so I get a guaranteed raise to the next level every year until I graduate from my intern program at GS-12 with 85k. Would you say that it was worth the pivot for you?
For me, yes. I started off in government writing technical manuals, and several years and two jobs later I do full-stack web development. In consulting I was lucky and got on projects where I built skills. Others weren’t so lucky and were doing PMO and updating tracking spreadsheets. What really scared me was when I searched for LinkedIn profiles of people from my agency, and found the vast majority stayed in government at similar agencies. That convinced me that if I wanted to get out, I needed to do it sooner rather than later.
Hate to break it to you but $85k by 2021 is not worth sticking around for... at all. You'll make way more than that in 2-3 years at Accenture. Also if you hate the work you're doing now then this seems like a no brainer. I'd be more worried about being stuck in a dead end government job than "pigeonholed" as a consultant
Ahh Accenture technology isn’t great. I’m in it right now and it’s mostly PMO stuff or testing for IT implementation projects. You’re really gonna have to network to get on any kind of analytics or digital project.
It's very difficult to move into strategy from tech because everyone wants to do that. Also 73k is going to be rough in sf.
I’ve run the numbers and I believe I can make 73k manage, but the main thing is if making the move is worth it to advance my career in the direction I want it to go. If I stay in tech consulting, will I be pigeonholed in that side forever?
I would recommend looking at the consulting subreddit. A lot of discussion there regarding moving from tech consulting to strategy. Overall consensus there is that it's very difficult especially at accenture