Hi there. Can someone please give a frank verdict of consulting at Accenture for a graduate. My preference is strategy consulting but im still open to other forms of consulting. have some direct questions. If you could give any advice/insight id be more than grateful.1)For a graduate is ACN a good place to start. I hear about people being pigeon holed and stuck on long term and mundane projects? How can one gain a broad consulting experience from this?2) Do they offer the best starting salary or at the very least an attractive salary to compensate for the tedious work graduates do. If this is the case why demand talented people for what is essentially mundane straight forward coding etc (im told!)3) Would a graduate be better joining another consultancy e.g. PA, Deloitte, CG (cdc) where they are more likely to do 'real'consulting work?Cheers

Well, having worked for Deloitte, CG and Accenture over the course of the last 20 years, I believe I can intelligently respond to your questions. I would say a definite NO to ACN. I just left for the reason that I am a strategist, published, and rarely used my skills and knowledge at ACN over the last 21/2 yrs. Out of all the firms, DC is much closer to McKinsey in the focus on Strategy and Planning. ACN is known by us all as a strong technology based consultancy firm, growing business by focusing on off shore outsourcing/BPO type projects which are very mundane and require little strategic thinking.

I have also worked at ACN and Deloitte. I may have been working in another epoch or something but what specific high value strategy work has/ is/ will Deloitte be done/ doing -examples please. Thank you.

I guess from the outside looking in - re. ACN v's Deloitte's etc. - it's rather unclear. ACN have their S&BA Group - Strategy and Business Architecture. And DC have their S&O Group - Strategy and Operations - both of which are excellent. But remember, both firms (perhaps ACN moreso) have larger technology bents (DC not least because, unlike the remaining 3 of the Big 4, they didn't dispose of their ITI/SI consulting fucntions). But still, these are the two Operating Groups / Divisions you should focus on re. comparing firms like ACN and DC for strategy work. But in all honesty, 'true' business strategy assignments (thought-leadership to CEO grade individuals underpinned by rigorous analytics and modelling) is conducted by the Strategy Houses - McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Booz, LEK, OC&C, Marakon, Roland Berger, Spectrum etc. These firms conduct strategy work at both Corporate and Business Unit level. I'd conduct a little more research/due diligence on the market first if strategy is your goal. Otherwise, S&BA and S&O are still good places to be to develop yourself within the realm of strategy consulting. Cheers.