Ally Reade

Bachelor of Mathematics majoring in Data Science
Application Development Analyst

Ally Reade joined Accenture in May 2022 as an Application Development Analyst. With a Bachelor of Mathematics majoring in Data Science, she’s found a natural home in our Technology team, while also exploring the other pathways available at Accenture.

Why did you choose to work at Accenture?

I always loved maths and after encouragement from one of my teachers, ended up studying a Bachelor of Mathematics majoring in Data Science at University of South Australia. I didn’t know what a job in mathematics would look like (I knew I wasn’t keen on teaching, which is the most obvious choice) and thought consulting might be interesting, particularly drawing on the data science and analytics part of my studies.

It was at a career introduction session at university that I first met one of the recruiters from Accenture and got talking. We ended up running into each other at more events including an event for Girls in STEM and another careers fair, and the more we chatted, the more I was sold on Accenture.

What is the best thing about working at Accenture?

The culture is my favourite thing. In the Adelaide office, where I am based, most of us are in the Technology stream and there’s lots of people of a similar age with the same interest in technology. We have regular social events, for example an ice cream day and weekly pancakes. These events are a great chance to get to know people and unwind from work in a relaxed and carefree environment. Working in Adelaide also means there’s plenty of opportunity to develop relationships with the leadership team, who come to all of the events.

Through my project with Department of Defence, I’ve also had the opportunity to work with team members across Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. Recently, I’ve travelled to both Canberra and Melbourne to meet with the team and clients. It’s exciting to have had the opportunity as a new joiner to travel so soon, and going to Defence sites was a real ‘pinch me’ moment.\

Nigel Pereira

Commerce, Operations Consulting and Transformation Analyst

Nigel Pereira is an Operations Consulting and Transformation Analyst, joining in our graduate intake two years ago. He shares some of his experiences and learnings on his time at Accenture so far.

Why did you join Accenture?

I studied commerce at university and knew that consulting was a career path that appealed to me. I strongly believed that technology is at the heart of innovation and I wanted an environment where I could learn more than the usual strategy skills, so applying to Accenture was a natural match.

But of course, as a graduate you apply to many companies. I was successful with a few organisations, but from the moment I got the call from Accenture, I knew it was where I wanted to be. The HR person was so down to earth and lovely, making me feel incredibly welcomed. I thought “If this is an example of the type of people at Accenture, that’s who I want to be associated with,” and that has only been reinforced since I joined. Everyone is so supportive and like-minded, and it’s a fantastic place to be building my consulting career.

What kind of flexibility can I expect?

When you start as an analyst, your managers will work with you to try to manage your time so that you’re maintaining a healthy balance. But the nature of consulting work is that the hours required will fluctuate at times, so it’s important to set and maintain your own boundaries. Some days when you’re between projects and concentrating on business development, you might only have a few hours of project work you need to do on any given day (and that’s when you can get involved in some of the internal programs like planning social events), while when a project is approaching a Go-To-Market deadline, there can be longer days required. It’s all about finding that balance, with a big picture view of how do you triage your time.

Elisha Torres

Analyst Name

When Elisha Torres started exploring career options with Accenture, she knew she wanted to continue with her part-time dance teaching too. Find out how Accenture’s approach to flexible work supports her to blend an engaging career with her personal passion.

Flexibility meets opportunity

It’s been wonderful to see how Accenture’s commitment to flexible working and supporting our people comes to life – even for someone at the start of their career. Before joining Accenture, I was the Recruitment Coordinator at a not-for-profit organisation and wasn’t sure if consulting was going to be the right fit for me. I didn’t have a clear direction of where I wanted to go professionally and was a bit hesitant to join a global business with such a depth of talent.

A year since joining, I can confidently say that I am excited to see what’s to come with Accenture. The first few months have undoubtably been a challenge, yet I have learned so much.

Jessica Qu

Master of Data Science ,Business & Integration Architecture Analyst

Jessica Qu was looking for something to do during the winter break of her Master of Data Science when she saw a post about Accenture’s Tech Bootcamp. Get to know more about her bootcamp experience and how it lead to her taking a full-time role at Accenture.

How did you find out about Tech Bootcamp?

I was studying for my Master of Data Science (after an undergraduate degree in biomedicine) and with the end of semester coming up, I was looking for something to do in the winter break. I happened to see a post about Tech Bootcamp on LinkedIn and thought it sounded interesting, so I decided to apply. I thought it would be a great opportunity to apply the programming skills I learnt in-class to real-world industry problems, but it ended up being so much more.

How did you go from Tech Bootcamp to being an employee?

During the bootcamp, my mentor was one of the leads in my current team. After our presentations, they spoke to me and encouraged me to apply for a position. I then went through four rounds of interviews before being offered my current position.

My role now is client facing for a product team, acting as a bridge between the client and the development team where I use a lot of the skills I learned and used on bootcamp. I spend a lot of time gathering requirements from the client, scoping the project, and discussing what’s feasible with the internal development team. Then I keep track of the progress of the project and provide updates back to the client. It’s a great role, with the chance to build my understanding of the platform and work within a bigger team.

Since joining, I’ve continued to build my skills, doing my AWS Cloud Certification, as well as training in agile fundamentals.

What advice do you have for people thinking about applying for Tech Bootcamp or Early Careers roles at Accenture?

It’s important to know about yourself and your strengths. Take some time to reflect on what you’ve learnt, all the way from primary school to university, as well as any sports or activities along the way, and how that all contributes to your skill set. All these add to the value you can bring.

In addition, working in technology isn’t about what you already know. It’s an area where things change quickly, so come with an open mindset and a willingness to be constantly learning and adopt changes to keep pace.