Deloitte vs Accenture Federal Services - Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of Deloitte as being more Management Consulting and Accenture being more of a system integrator.

Deloitte's origin is auditing and low-level consulting, not Management Consulting.

Accenture did have a strong Strategy division but now it's more about IT services.

[Anonymous]

Friends with Deloitte are very happy. I can’t speak from personal experience, but both are long term employees. One does frequent international travel with them.

[Anonymous]

OP what’s considered competitive? I’ve heard Deloitte pays more but Accenture May have better upward mobility.

[Anonymous]

Husband has had a really solid career at Deloitte the last 10 years. They’ve treated him well, pay nicely, and the hours are reasonable with good flexibility. He works a weekend here and there, but equally often can work from home or take days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a weird experience interviewing with Accenture's federal practice in that they still expected managers to commit to 100% travel availability. Not sure if that has changed, but it wasn't something I was interested in having inked into my terms of employment and then just hoping the company never acted on it.

From what I've heard from friends/former colleagues, Deloitte is very 'perform or you're out.' Some people thrive on that, others hate it. It's such a large company, though, that most people I know have managed to string together jobs/roles successfully over time.

When was this? DC-based employees rarely, rarely travel. Regardless of level. However, this is still true with Accenture LLP.

[Anonymous]

Deloitte still has a pension right? If so, I would go there.

The Accenture folks I have worked with have been clowns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deloitte still has a pension right? If so, I would go there.

The Accenture folks I have worked with have been clowns.

Yes. Pension is trivial, but it exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a weird experience interviewing with Accenture's federal practice in that they still expected managers to commit to 100% travel availability. Not sure if that has changed, but it wasn't something I was interested in having inked into my terms of employment and then just hoping the company never acted on it.

From what I've heard from friends/former colleagues, Deloitte is very 'perform or you're out.' Some people thrive on that, others hate it. It's such a large company, though, that most people I know have managed to string together jobs/roles successfully over time.

When was this? DC-based employees rarely, rarely travel. Regardless of level. However, this is still true with Accenture LLP.

The travel is real... they will assign you to clients on the other side of the country and you will be there Monday - Thursday/Friday AM for months at a time. You get a lot of points.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies and advice - it’s been very helpful. Reading your comments and also talking with a few additional people within both firms led me to accept an offer with Deloitte this morning.

Thanks again.
OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a weird experience interviewing with Accenture's federal practice in that they still expected managers to commit to 100% travel availability. Not sure if that has changed, but it wasn't something I was interested in having inked into my terms of employment and then just hoping the company never acted on it.

From what I've heard from friends/former colleagues, Deloitte is very 'perform or you're out.' Some people thrive on that, others hate it. It's such a large company, though, that most people I know have managed to string together jobs/roles successfully over time.

When was this? DC-based employees rarely, rarely travel. Regardless of level. However, this is still true with Accenture LLP.

The travel is real... they will assign you to clients on the other side of the country and you will be there Monday - Thursday/Friday AM for months at a time. You get a lot of points.

In AFS? I work for AFS. Almost all of our clients are DC-based. There are very few clients outside of DC. And some of the big ones are barely outside -Baltimore, PA, etc. What Fed client are you supporting that you fly to the West Coast every week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a weird experience interviewing with Accenture's federal practice in that they still expected managers to commit to 100% travel availability. Not sure if that has changed, but it wasn't something I was interested in having inked into my terms of employment and then just hoping the company never acted on it.

From what I've heard from friends/former colleagues, Deloitte is very 'perform or you're out.' Some people thrive on that, others hate it. It's such a large company, though, that most people I know have managed to string together jobs/roles successfully over time.

When was this? DC-based employees rarely, rarely travel. Regardless of level. However, this is still true with Accenture LLP.

The travel is real... they will assign you to clients on the other side of the country and you will be there Monday - Thursday/Friday AM for months at a time. You get a lot of points.

In AFS? I work for AFS. Almost all of our clients are DC-based. There are very few clients outside of DC. And some of the big ones are barely outside -Baltimore, PA, etc. What Fed client are you supporting that you fly to the West Coast every week?

Military. Bases in CA and SW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for your replies and advice - it’s been very helpful. Reading your comments and also talking with a few additional people within both firms led me to accept an offer with Deloitte this morning.

Thanks again.
OP

Late to the party, but: at the senior manager level, this was probably a good choice. Deloitte's federal practice has always had issues with getting Managers and below access to enough hours to hit their utilization targets, but that becomes less of an issue as you move up. As a senior manager I believe you're really only expected to bill something like 65-70% of your hours, which is still challenging given other firm obligations, but is at least achievable without having to come in on federal holidays.

[Anonymous]

Just be prepared to fall out of Deloitte's good graces even when you're a "star". They are still top heavy and there is not enough work to go around so Senior Managers can give up their lives and STILL not make partner (not sure if that's your goal) and be forced out the door....the upside is with the name on your resume you could be a shoe-in Partner at a smaller firm and not have to jump through as many hoops and have more balance in your life.

[Anonymous]

I’d love to hear more on this. Not sure if a bump will work.

[Anonymous]

So pay at Accenture is really really low or their recruiters stink because the Accenture folks in my office are terrible.