Application Development Associate Review

I worked on large IT and business transformation projects at high profile client organisations, both as a programme manager and as a software engineer. I regularly facilitated client meetings that brought together the IT teams to discuss technical changes with the impacted business stakeholders. I supported technical architects and business analysts in developing requirements and producing design documentation for software changes. For a separate project, I worked as an integration developer within a large Agile (Scrum) team. I wrote XML and JSON files defining message flows that are responsible for transferring and transforming data that passes between the client’s financial systems.

There was an impressive breadth and depth of training material available to me and Accenture appears to be a great place to develop a wide range of skills, where continuous learning is a priority. I completed two AWS cloud computing qualifications. I was also able to upskill during my transition between projects and had numerous opportunities to learn from observing and being supervised by more experienced colleagues. I have greatly benefitted from exposure to a wide range of different disciplines, tools and technologies.

Within a couple of weeks of joining my first project, I was scheduling, coordinating and facilitating calls with key stakeholders from across the client’s multiple IT teams and business functions. My role was focused on coordinating the overall progress of proposed IT changes, as they moved from requirements definition and design and towards development. I established relationships with stakeholders across fifteen business areas and ten IT teams. This meant that I was identified as a key contact within the project for a large number of people and was expected to deal with many follow-up enquiries and requests for status updates.

I was supported by a large number of different people within the company, including a career counsellor, placement ambassador, community leaders and HR representatives. There was a dedicated support person for each area of the company that I had to learn about and everyone was willing to take the time to guide me through unfamiliar processes. During project work, my line manager was very generous with her time and let me know that I could always get in touch to ask for support and guidance. I enjoyed working alongside talented software engineers who supported and coached me so that I could succeed and quickly make meaningful contributions to the team.

There is an inclusive, supportive and hard-working culture, where openness and inclusion are priorities. Despite joining remotely, I felt welcomed and included in the project team and took part in regular social and team-building activities. Senior managers made themselves available to meet with junior staff and discuss their career paths. I learned about the wide variety of career options available at Accenture. The company encourages new joiners to develop their industry knowledge and learn about different technologies.

I enjoyed working closely with experienced software developers and technical architects. Their enthusiasm for the implementation details helped me to stay motivated, particularly when my tasks felt like very minor changes. It was satisfying to apply my knowledge of tools that I had learned to use while at university. I learned about roles that I had never heard of before and improved my commercial awareness through joining meetings with client stakeholders from a wide variety of business areas. I enjoyed being involved with high profile projects and seeing the inner workings of multiple large corporate organisations.

Yes

Accenture's core business values are a good guide to what to expect. You should enjoy learning about a wide range of technical disciplines and applying your knowledge to complex business challenges. Familiarise yourself with the case studies available on the company's website. Security and cloud computing are important areas to pay attention to. You don't need to be an experienced software developer to succeed at Accenture. There is a very wide variety of project roles available, across multiple industries and working with many different technologies.