Current Projects

Jagesh’s first two projects were both with the same client—a UK retail bank. The first was an outsourcing project based in Manchester, so he traveled there every week. He had a project management role, which taught him a lot about creating and managing project plans. The second project was based in Poole where he was looking after the Technology and Work Environment work stream. He was responsible for making sure the client team that was transferring to Accenture had everything it needed. Two crucial elements were getting all the branding in place for the transfer date, and looking after the health and safety aspects. His third and current project is on one of Accenture’s Outsourcing Delivery programs. It is a Web-based tool, called Client Service Reporting (CSR), which is made available to clients. He is working as Delivery Account Coordinator, which involves liaising with the client in scoping discussions, costing the project, getting sign off and then structuring the entire implementation process. He also liaises with the Accenture development team in Bangalore, which is the delivery centre, and he gets involved with the CSR training for clients. He is really enjoying it and is now aiming to develop himself as an expert in this area.

Working on Global Teams

Jagesh says that its people are a real strength for Accenture. They’re friendly and treat each other well and with respect. There is also a good structure provided by one’s buddy (mentor) and career counselor. Having a buddy helps one to familiarize oneself informally with the company, while the career counseling is a more formal approach to helping one steer and tailor one’s career. Once one has joined a project, one seldom to meets up with all the other people on the career development program, but there are activities that bring them together. The charity days are one—Jagesh has participated in two so far: one was painting the inside of a flat for a children’s charity, and the other was doing an old lady’s garden in Hackney. As well as the charitable aspect, these charity days allow people on the career development program to get together and they can spend the evening catching up.

Putting Skills to Work

Jagesh joined Accenture in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Economics from the University of Mumbai, and a Masters in Business Administration from Brunel University. Before Jagesh joined Accenture he worked at one of the big accounting firms, studying for his accounting qualification. He had originally imagined himself doing financial accounting with some consultancy, but the work there was core auditing which was not what he wanted to do. So his original objective was to join a finance area within Accenture, although he soon realized that it made more sense for him to join the Outsourcing practice.

Personal Satisfaction

One thing that has genuinely surprised Jagesh about Accenture is the emphasis it places on training. “Lots of companies talk about training, but Accenture takes it very seriously,” Jagesh says. “For example, there’s online training that we are required to do on an ongoing basis, and of course being sent to Chicago for two weeks was a real highlight.” He didn’t honestly expect training could be that glamorous.