Business Analyst Review

In most jobs you get in what you put out and it is similar in Accenture. However, in most cases, the extent to which you enjoy your job depends largely on which clients you work for and who you work with. In Accenture, as an intern you have little power over where you get placed. As you progress throughout the organisation there is increasing opportunity to specialise in the area that you are most interested in but for the first year at least you get what you're given. Most people, including myself have had interesting work so far although I know of some people who have been given testing roles in the past (basically involves clicking buttons all day) who are unhappy with their role. I was unfortunate in that my initial project was delayed and then eventually cancelled and so I spent around 2 weeks with literally nothing to do (sounds good but trust me it's not!). The HR team are generally very good at looking for roles but it is important to accept that this is likely to happen in this industry and you should NOT be expecting a straight forward 9-5, Monday-Friday job here.

If you are working out of town on a project you are most likely to be put up in a hotel Monday to Friday, which can get quite lonely if you don't get on with your team and so people on out of town projects often get to know each other a lot better than those based in London. It is unlikely that you will ever see the same person twice in Head Office as it is made up entirely of hot-desks and therefore it can sometimes be harder to get to know people if you are based here.

It sounds clichee but Accenture staff are genuinely the most helpful bunch of people I have ever met. Within the organisation, if you need any information you can email a person on the other side of the world, who you have never met and more often than not, they will come back with a minefield of really great stuff. Managers are really good at helping out with admin type things as well as these can be a bit much to get your head round to start with. Generally - people give you the authority to do your own thing but at the same time they appreciate that you've just started and are willing to give you that extra bit of help when you need it.

I'm only putting ten here as when you do get busy you get really really busy!!! In this type of job it depends entirely what project you're on and what stage it's at. Most of the time work is a standard 9-6 but you can be working up to 16 hour days and weekends on the odd occasion. You don't get overtime for this but you sometimes get a bit of unofficial time off in lieu and of course if you work really hard this reflects in your evaluation as well.

As long as you prove yourself to the rest of your team, the possibilities are endless. It is not however, the sort of job where you sit and wait for a manager to drip feed you stuff to do. Most of the time you are given a project, a little bit of guidence and told to get on with it! This is hard at first but it quickly comes naturally and you learn the tools and create contacts to source your own information.

Strange as it sounds I have used so much of my previous course knowledge (e.g. marketing, statisics and HRM) in this job (infact I've even used a fair bit of A-Level Chemistry!). This has been really helpful for me as I can now see how the theory I have previously studied applies in the real world. Next year when I go back to university and take more advanced modules in these subjects, this will be a great help in my understanding. Of course what field you work in will determine how much knowledge you pick up but the skills gained are invaluable. In terms of knowing what job I want to do when I leave uni....this has got to be one of the best types of placements to do if, like me, you haven't got a clue! Accenture works with a wide range of companies (multinational to SMEs), a large number of disciplines (financial, change management, talent management, performance management, systems intergration, IT etc), and a large number of industries. Accenture have 5 main industry groups - finance (Barclays/UBS), communications and high tech (Vodafone/BT), Resources (Shell/BP), Products (M&S, Sainsburys) and Government (Home Office/DWP/UKBA.

You work mostly at client offices so you only know the people you work directly with. When I was working at the Home Office and the Prison Service I got chased around by a security guard all day and couldn't leave my desk - that wasn't the best! At head office it's all hot desks so you are unlikely to see the same person twice - the only people that seem to have a good time are the PA's!

I think everyone except me on the placement would have given this a ten but I felt I was mucked around quite a bit to start with. No-ones fault particularly but jobs tend to be more scarce over the summer - the scheme would be better set up to start in September perhaps. Despite this, you get the impression that the HR team have dont this a million times before and are generally pretty good about providing social events and keeping you informed of all the events coming up at the company.

One hell of a lot! We didn't have a lot of training (only a week) but they really packed it in and it was a fantastic experience, even though we were dropped in at the deep end to say the least! Accenture treat you like a genuine employee, not like a placement student, hence why everyone has to go through the same recruitment process. Most learning takes place on the job - the company aren't afraid to take risks and will ship you off to another part of the country to give presentaions etc after only a couple of weeks (all expenses paid and believe me there will be a lot of them if you're out of town!).

Unless you really screw up you are pretty much guaranteed a job - hence the rigourous recruitment process to start with. Not sure whether I'd accept it if I got an offer but you can defer your start date up to 2 years.

The HR reps try pretty hard to arrange socials but since most 12 month placement students are out of town, it is hard to arrange things that everyone can go to. When the summer interns are around (June-August), it tends to be a lot more social as there are many more people around and the number of people in London is quite high for shorter placements.

When you work on an out of town project you are on expenses - £30 for food and drink a day - good but you don't always have people to go out with! Living in London can be very expensive but if you live a bit further out (e.g. Clapham/Putney) then it tends to be a bit more reasonable.

Again - depends where you are. Around Accenture Head Office there are a few good bars for after work but these are pretty pricey - only 3 tube stops from Picadilly Circus though and central to most other things if you fancy a night out after work.

There are loads of clubs and societies I just didn't join any! They only meet once a week or so but they tend to be in London and events are at the weekend so I was never free to go. You do however get charity days (3 per year - paid). When on placement these are organised by the HR reps - all good fun and it gives you a chance to get away from the office.