Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 Update
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Graduates IBM are looking for
There is a myth that we only look for graduates with computer science degrees - we don't. We don't ask for a computer science degree for any of our graduate roles - just an interest in the area you are applying to - whether that be as a finance professional, a sales specialist or a business modelling consultant.
What is really important is that you can demonstrate that you have the attributes and skills that will ensure you have a successful career with us. We call these our 'core competencies'. The diagram below shows what these are.
Monday, 18 June 2007
Some interesting quotes
"1 hour of planning saves 3 hours of execution." - Mistakes are often a result of failure to plan. We generally do not spend enough time planning, little do we know that this practice will be the most productive part of a project. We stumble into work and react to errors and mistakes.
"It is IMPOSSIBLE to become depressed when you have a sense of purpose."
Another good quote from the book is, "A goal without an action plan is a daydream" - If you have an idea, do not keep it to yourself, note it down and share it with others.
Thats all for now guys, ill upload more interesting quotes if I come across any.
I promised and I delivered...Accenture Wetfeet summary
Wetfeet Guide to Accenture
Primary Competitors
IBM, EDS, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Computer Sciences Corp., McKinsey & Company.
Interesting facts
Employs 95,000 employees in 48 countries
Provides the following:
· Hard core technology support
· Top level strategic advice
· Outsourcing
· HR
Accenture are strong, young and have an innovative oriented culture.
They are looking for the following:
“People with a broad and diverse set of experiences – computer science, management information systems, business studies and even those in the arts”
“Hiring is increasing from fiscal year 2007. With Accentures market picking up with the economy, it has had a ripple effect”.
“Come to the interview with stories that demonstrate your interpersonal strengths, analytical skills and ability to overcome challenges.”
Career Ladder
Employees follow a defined career path with set milestones.
Start
1. Analyst
2. Consultant
3. Manager
4. Senior manager
5. Associate Partner
6. Partner
Undergraduates who join generally move to consultant level in 2 to 3 years.
Hiring Estimates
Accenture hiring 30,000 people for its fiscal year ending 2008.
Overview of Accenture
Accenture made a name for itself as a world leader in management consulting and technology services. Established in 1989 it begun its life as Andersen consulting but went public as Accenture.
One thing that has stayed the same is the focus on delivering top notch consulting and technology services to organisations all over the world.
Their traditional stronghold is systems integration but they are also specialist in consulting.
Accenture’s client roster is a veritable who’s who list, one that straddles a multitude of industries; in addition to a sizeable percentage of Fortune 500 companies and FTSE 100 companies. Consulting to a wide range of governmental and nonprofits organisations.
Made headline in June 2004 in the US when an alliance led by Accenture won a Homeland Security Department contract work 10 Billion USD.
Accenture are increasing focusing on outsourcing, taking over whole IT or HR functions of their clients. In US there has been outsourcing deals with Best Buy and Deutsche Bank. Outsourcing now contributes 40 % of the total revenue.
With a brighter business outlook and a demanding work schedule. The firm attracts the kind of people who like to reach for high hurdles, “A plus about working here is the kind of personality traits you can pick up – people here are at the top of their game, A-types, go-getters”.
Every employee has a career counsellor who works as the employees advocate when it comes to staffing.
Committed to tons of resources to training, and passes on discounts on services, like cell phones. J
According to Fortunes 2004, Accenture came out as the most admired company.
Insiders say they have a positive and cooperative environment. “There is a culture of sharing, e.g Java”
Bottom Line
I want to get in on the vast range of professional experiences consultancy has to offer. Try to demonstrate both leadership and teamwork capabilities. They are committed to training.
Industry Position
· Accenture is definitely on of the big kids on the consulting block. According to Consultants News it ranked 75 largest consulting firms in the world.
· Accenture ranks second only to IBM in global market share and consulting revenue.
· Tech and process groups compete with IBM and EDS
· Human performance competency competes with HR consulting firms such as Hewitt
· Strategy group takes on strategy firms such as McKinsey and Deloitte
View from the Top
Joe Forehand CEO
No fixed geographical locations.
View from the Middle
Organised into overlapping industries allowing client to choose integrated consulting services.
5 global operations groups:
· Financial services
· Government
· Communications and high tech
· Products
· Resources
Strategy and business architecture involve higher level consulting work to determine the client’s business and technology needs.
View from the Bottom
Firm encourages newcomer to constantly expand skills set. Improve your business and programming skills.
Gain experience within a particular industry and gain some specialisation.
The role of an Analyst
Analyst comes into a market unit and the core analysts program (CAP).
The program gives the chance to develop core skills through plenty of training as well as on the job experience.
2 weeks afterwards they participate in a mock client engagement.
“All analysts should be information sponges. Learn how we work and soak up information rapidly.”
Responsibilities
· Mapping business processes
· Analysing client data
· Designing computer modules
· Interviewing client management
· Preparing user-training materials
· Changes at clients site
Strategy
Small group of people for business analyst positions, people who analyse the industry, competitive analysis, identifying trends, valuation etc. “
• Develop key performance metrics
• Conduct industry research
• Facilitate the flow of work units through their teams
• Discuss specific issues with in-house experts
Consultants
Similar roles to analysts but with the exception that you will be managing small teams.
Responsibilities
• Lead project meetings
• Monitor and report on project status
• Lead presentations
• Interview vendors
• Supervise analysts
• Facilitate brainstorming sessions
Culture
Employees who work at the client site, especially for extended periods, will find themselves interacting with the client’s culture as much as Accenture’s. “On average, we aspire to blend in with our clients. In my projects, I want client people on our team, I want them to be integrated,” said one insider. “We go to lunch together, go out after work. That’s probably very typical except on the large tech projects, where you have a pod of people in the back room.”
At Accenture good interpersonal skills and a willingness to help are definitely more common than a ‘me first’ attitude.
A strong collaborative culture is also important.
Training
They provide technical and managerial skills development. At entry level employees in consulting workforce can expect at least 300hours of core training during their first 5 years. Helping to build the followings:
• Corporate culture
• Competence
• Leadership
• Value creation
• Relationship building
• Business and tech acumen
• Selling
• Methodology
• Data analysis
• Programming
Key component is a 2 week visit to Chicago suburb of St. Charles, Illinois.
• 1 week orientation
• 2 weeks of guidance on skills necessary for interacting with a client and working on the project.
You will be provided with the skills to think, act and speak like an Accenture consultant.
New consultants learn Knowledge xChange, Accentures internal information management system enabling them to tap into data from all the firms consulting assignments.
• Offer online learning myLearning.accenture.com.
• Class room training by top leaders.
Interview Tips, Questions?
• What are the specific expectations you would have of me as a new employee, and how will Accenture help me meet those expectations?
• How much client interaction should I expect?
• What would you say are the benefits of having so many different industry and service lines in one company?
• How much leeway would I have in determining which industry or client I will work for?
Download link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/yxq413
The Best Consultancy Firms
Good morning all!
I have managed to find a books by WetFeet detailing everything you need to know about the company from their strong financial growth, the roles they have available within the company, the working culture at Accenture and their interview processes. I think it will be invaluable for those hoping to pursue a career in consultancy and software development with Accenture.
You can download the report from http://www.sendspace.com/file/c3w4t6
Im going to have a through read through today and I will summaries my finding for you. I will post it up later today.
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Kent IT Clinic
I have zipped my final year reports and uploaded it for all to see. My reports are a summary of my contribution as a consultant to the clinic and all the projects I worked on during my time with the IT clinic.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/usyru7
Vault!
If your remotely interested in a career in consultancy then I suggest your first starting point should be this book.
It has provided me with valuable insight in consulting, detailing essential skills employers require and interview tips for aspiring consultants.
I will take extracts from this book and post them frequently for those who are interested.
Tomorrow...What skills consultants should possess.
Femi Paul's CV
This is my latest CV detailing my recent qualifications and professional experiences.
Femi Paul | 8 Weymouth Close - London – 07951200482 - femipaul@gmail.com |
Objective Seeking a professional IT and Business Consultancy position requiring advanced technical training and providing an opportunity to improve the systems and operations of a growing or established company.
From my previous work experience I have demonstrated decisiveness, well developed planning, analytical and communication skills. I have always achieved consistently high level of performance in a variety of progressively responsible and challenging assignments both in my university and at work. I keep high standards for my work and I am known of my ability to follow through and commit.
Education
May 2004 ~ June 2007
B.Sc (Hons) 2.1 in Computer Science with Business Administration
University of Kent at Canterbury Canterbury, UK
Subjects include:
-
Software Engineering Practices
Marketing
Dynamic Web development
Financial and Management Accounting
Introduction to Java programming
International Business
Advanced Java programming
Operation and Service Management
Database System
IT Consultancy Methods and Practices
May 2002 3 A Levels
Barnet College London, UK
ICT, Biology, Mathematics
June 1999 Christ Church Secondary School London, UK
9 GCSEs including Mathematics, English and Science.
Professional Highlights
Sept 2006 ~ April 2007 Kent IT Clinic
IT Consultant
Planned, analysed and recommended cost-effective architectures, infrastructures and standards that adapted to changing business needs and leverage bottom-line results. Gained experience with requirements analysis data and process modelling, logical/physical design, and knowledge of structure methodologies and project planning. Responsibilities and achievements:
Meeting with clients to determine project requirements
Planning timescales and resource management
Analysing problems and making recommendations
Presenting solutions in written and oral reports
Project Management
Involved in sales, marketing and support and where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organisation
June ~ Sept 2006 The Community College, Shoreditch
IT Administrator
Operated as the market consultant for purchasing software and hardware. Responsibilities and achievements:
Installed the computers and peripherals purchased
Helped and supported the network users with everyday problems
Communicated with specialised personnel from different hardware/software vendors
Operated as internal technician for hardware, software, printer and local network problems
Updated current hardware and software
Kept an up to date IT audit database
Logged IT faults and ensured they were resolved to a satisfactory standard
May ~ June 2006 Chaucer Syndicates plc
Service Desk Analyst and Administrator London, UK
Responsible for the allocation of internal hardware and software problems to the appropriate IT technician
Facilitated communication between disparate departments, ensuring that queries relating to IT are handled appropriately
Updating company database from transactions, dealing with syndicates such as Lloyd’s, the worlds largest insurance market
Responsible for maintaining and facilitating email system, ensuring that spams and potential threats are removed before failures occurs
Summer 2003, 2005 The Community College, Shoreditch
Administrative Assistant and Data Entry London, UK
Involved in the organisation and provision of programs of study to student who attended the college.
Assigned the task of entering student details into the college database and the assessment of student fees which was paramount to the college getting the accurate amount of funding.
Liaised with other members within different departments to ensure that student had a quick and efficient enrolment process.
Helped with the quality assessment and validation of data while performing local system backups.
Through my experience from my Computer Science studies I was also able to help with technical issues that were frequently encountered by enrolment staff.
Took a leadership role on enrolment days ensuring that students were directed into the right location to be enrolled and also helped select appropriate staff for locations that needed more priority.
Jun ~ Sept 2004 Sega Europe
Software Tester and Quality Assurance London, UK
Involved in the execution of test plans constructed by the team leader. My roles involved the black box testing of beta software.
Used agile testing methodology in order to get the best test results. As a team we carried out regression testing on beta software and reported persistent errors to the programming team.
Involved in oral presentation of the latest titles to major clients such as Sony and Microsoft. Sega subcontracted me to Sports Interactive (Makers of the football manager series) to help their team with testing of future titles.
One of my primary roles was to ensure that the developing software was designed to meet and exceed our customer’s standards. My roles involved all activities concerning design, development, production, installation and documentation.
Technical Skills
Programming platforms: Java; PHP
OS Platforms: Win32 (98; 2K PE; XP PE)
Linux (Minimal experience)
WEB/ EE Services: Java; JavaScript; HTML 4.0
CSS 2.0; XHTML; XML;
XSD; DTD; PHP; XSLT;
XSL; Joomla CMS
Databases: MySQL, postgreSQL
IDE: Dreamweaver;
Authoring: Microsoft Word; Excel; Visio; Project
Others: Exchange, VPN, Microsoft Server 2003
Additional Information
I enjoy playing football and I am a member of my local Sunday league team.
I play PC games and I am a former pro evolution soccer UK champion who represented the UK in the European Championships in Nice, France.
Reading is something that interests me. Autobiographical, adventure and inspirational books interests me.
I am an extremely active individual who consistently challenges oneself; in the summer of 2004 I climbed the highest peak in the south of Wales (Pen-y-Fan).
Member of the British Computing Society
Clean driving Licence.
Personal References
| Personal tutor and University Lecturer Dr Olaf Chitil O.Chitil@kent.ac.uk +44 (0)1227 824320 | College IT Manager Fehmi Hanolglue fhanoglu@tcch.ac.uk +44 (0)20 7613 9123 |
Saturday, 16 June 2007
What it takes to be a consultant
Here is some useful information I found in 'Target', a graduates jobs directory that is released once a year. I'll summaries the most important information.
"Technology consultancies work with businesses in every sector, including the retail, finance, industry and public sectors. Their focus is to provide technology solutions that will enhance the business performance of their clients. Typical areas of work include package implementation, architecture development, systems integration, project and programme management, networking and security. Consulting projects are very varied and can range from delivering a financial reporting system for a multinational corporation to implementing a logistics and supply chain system in a retailers warehouse."
Thats all for today but more to follow...
