I keep reading about the drop in salary analysts are finding now compared to a year or two ago when being promoted from A2-C1. I'm about to start at Accenture and wonder if it's likely this will have been changed again in a couple of years for the better? i.e back to the old C1 £40k+ Wishful thinking or realistic as these things can often be cyclical?

It probably will go back up in March, you have to work for it though.I'm a C1 at Accenture and recently did a calculation which went along the lines of:"If I had a normal job with proper overtime (single-time, not double-time) and I worked these hours for this pay, how much would my basic salary be?"The answer is somewhere in the low 20ks.For someone with a first-class, a Ph.D and 3 years experience that is quite hard to take.cheers,Gaztop

It probably will go back up in March, you have to work for it though.I'm a C1 at Accenture and recently did a calculation which went along the lines of:"If I had a normal job with proper overtime (single-time, not double-time) and I worked these hours for this pay, how much would my basic salary be?"The answer is somewhere in the low 20ks.For someone with a first-class, a Ph.D and 3 years experience that is quite hard to take.cheers,Gaztop

In March? I thought promotions were later on in the year; September or thereabouts.

Gaztop, If you're who I think you are, didn't you just quit "to pursue a career in banking"!?

In response to your question, I moved from £32k to £41 going from A2 to C1. I am now a C2 and get £45k. THis is sh*t actually as I know people who, when going from C1 to C2, got another £10k. I got the 2% pay rise which is tantamount to a paycut. Hence why I am quitting! Bring it on!

Well Jimbob, if you only got the 2%, you cant be that good. I expect Accenture are better off without you

I don't get it Jimbob, surely C1 at 41k is a good enough salary and C2 at 45k is about market rate is it not? What sort of factors are considered when they decide who gets a bigger raise? Hours worked? Extra-curricular stuff? Value brought to the table?

Chrisj,Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about - the whole performance management process at Accenture is fundamentally flawed as it really is a case of who sucks up most, who has more friends in the laffering meetings and a whole plethora of other things. It was mentioned that my holidays pulled me into this lower bracket - not worth pursuing but this contravenes recruitment law. They whole thing is a load of sh*t - ask anyone there.

Acc.Applicant,Considering that the jump from C1 to C2 used to be in the region of £8k, so I should really be on around £49. Oh and Chrisj, I'm brilliant!J

Jimbob. As I am a Senior Manager in Accenture (Products), and have been with the firm for almost 10 years (including leading file review and performance management processes for the last 3 years), I do feel that I have a marginal awareness of how the firm operates. Despite all the bad press that Accenture seems to get on here, and despite some of the challenges we currently face, I strongly believe it is a good place to be to learn and grow. The work that we do is challenging, and quite frankly nobody else in the market comes close. As the Business Consulting practice is re-established over the next 2 years, we will be in an even stronger position.As to the points about salary. Well, yes, that has some challenges, and as you know from the email from DT, will be addressed in January (particularly at the Consultant level). And to be brutally honest, if the only reason that you are leaving is because you can get an extra 5k somehere else, then good luck (although that difference will not exist in 2007 as the pay issue is addressed). My take is that as a new consultant, you are effectively still an apprentice and learning. You should focus more on being in an environment where you are learning, developing and working with good people, rather than solely on how much you earn. That is how you succeed. If you spend your life chasing the cash, I fear as to what you will turn into 10 years down the line.Anyway, I dont mean to come across as patronising. I wish you the best of luck wherever you are going. About 5 years ago when I was thinking about leaving, a Partner said to me there are 2 reasons why people leave - either based on a rational process (I honestly cant see myself doing this type of work in 5 years) or based on an emotional process (I have just been screwed over in a performance review. The first is the right reason, the second is the wrong reason, and people generally live to regret their action. I hope you are leaving for the right reason.

I left Accenture 6 months ago for reason 1. I said to myself that i was not prepared to spend more than x years in hotels. What we have here is unfortunately typical of Accenture's senior levels. A perfectly valid point has been made (if in a somewhat bitter, inarticulate manner) about flaws in the performance management process. These flaws, in my experience, are felt by 90% of employees up to C2 level. Despite continual criticism in employee surveys, the issue is neatly sidestepped by everyone in senior positions who can not be bothered to put staff morale above a potentially thought-provoking problem. In my opinion, the current model results in disenfranchisement of a significant proportion of the population and can not be sustainable for long-term morale.

Hi,Ok Chris, you make some very valid points here and I agree with what you have said but I also agree with what Martin has said too. The issue about morale is never adressed in Accenture - and always very effectively side-stepped - you are good at this and hence why you probably make a good Snr Mgr. Pay is one thing and it is frustrating for the 90% that martin mentions however, the work is frequently not that interesting and you get "sold" roles which you are promised will be excellent for your career and more often than not are not.But I think the problem is not just financial-based. I don't really find the work that we do that interesting. It is always BSIC work, very rarely is it proper BC work. But yet we insist on marketing ourselves as a MC - and as a result I don't really see myself developing quickly as a Management COnsultant - you can't deny the perceived view of ACN on this forum - why do you think this is?This, in my view, is a third reason why people leave ACN which wasn't mentioned before.I will however be interested to see how DT's mail will be put into effect in Jan. I heard around 20% from a colleague. That should pacify but doesn't really address the other issues that there are.p.s. Sorry for being an ass earlier in my postings but it is obviously an issue which is close to everyone's hearts who is in the same position as myself.Cheers.

JimbobI agree with you. Its not all about pay -there are a bundle of things that need fixing, including making sure that we don't overpromise on a glamour-filled MC career to people when they join. Over the last 5 years since we went public, our work has been about chasing revenue and longer term pipeline deals. That means SI deals and outsourcing. So now, we have a group of people who joined to do consulting work for an IT consulting provider. We are now in a commodity business (the fact that we are now globally rated #1 SI ahead of IBM proves it) where it is extremely difficult for us to compete due to our high cost base. I too thought about leaving about 6 months ago and looked around at the market. There was some interesting stuff, but nothing really that set my pants alight. So I stayed. And I now hear Foster talking about his vision for rebuilding a real management consulting practice, and I am convinced that if anyone can do that, he can. I've done my share of work - some strats, some operational excellence, some SI and some outsourcing. Some i've loved. Some i've hated. But in each i've learned something, and moved on. The thing I still admire about Accenture is that despite all the crap that has happened over the last year or so, the people are generally smart who look out for each other. There are some selfish b@stards who only look out for themselves, but you get that in every company. I learnt you have to find someone who looks out for you, and stick with them. Despite a previous comment, I value people more than anything - i'm the guy who quite frankly would rather take my analysts and consultants out for a beer and get pi$$ed with them, than spend a night talking to partners. I think my general point, and I mean this honestly to anyone reading this, is that I really think we are at a turning point, and that things will get much better. I would ask you to really think through what you value, and who you value, and where you want to be in 3 years. Talk to your counsellor (you can even talk to me if you wish in confidence). And bear in mind that we will be working for a different company in 12 months time. cheers

Chris,That all sounds very encouraging for someone about to start with the company to hear.Has this focus on SI and outsourcing been across the board or within B&SI?The reason I ask is I'm joining it but would like to move into one of the business consulting roles like F&PM, CRM or HP after the 2 years I think you have to do before you are eligible. How is morale, the projects and everything else diiscussed here in the business consulting roles or have these issues/changes been across the board?

Excuse my maths, but how does 2% on top of 41k take you to 45k ?Geffen

Do accenture have a load of standard answers to questions like this? The responses from Chrisj feel like they're a cut and paste job from a sales brochure!

Obligatory drinking with the Senior Manager....always a great laugh!TurboFace

"i'm the guy who quite frankly would rather take my analysts and consultants out for a beer and get pi$$ed with them, than spend a night talking to partners. "I'm the guy who would rather see his wife than be expected to get pi$$ed with work colleagues who think that since I spend 11 hours a day with them it automatically gives them the right to be my friend!

Really agree with you work life balance though I am sure he does not mean get pi$$ed every day...lol.

"Really agree with you work life balance though I am sure he does not mean get pi$$ed every day...lol. "if he's one of the senior managers i know then that's not unheard of, trust me.anyways, first to the people who told the guy above he must have been bad at his job for only getting a 2% raise...without getting into detail of the accenture performance process, everyone is laddered against other people in their career level. So all Consultants get laddered against each other and aligned to certain percentages. C1's (the most junior consultants) get laddered against C2, C3 (and even "C4"s). If you are in the bottom 10% you are rated a 'below', in the next 40% a 'consistent with', only the top 50% get 'above' 'strongly above' and 'top'. As a lowly C1 you are in the most junior 33% of staff. So even a really excellent c1, who is better than all other C1's and comes in at 45% in the ladder is still a 'consistent with'. And this September everyone with a 'consistent with' got a 2% payrise, which was a large number of the people who were not up for a promotion this time round. I'm a C2 myself and belong in the above category. I'm sad to see all my friends leaving currently and over the last few months but at the same time i can see things going upwards again. I've been looking myself as well and put my CV out there and got offered jobs at 20-40% more pay, none of them really took my fancy though. Yes, there are rubbish projects and crap roles, but if you look at the big picture this is still a great place to work. And probably only by interviewing for other positions i realised how valuable the experience i am gaining here is. So for now i am staying. Saying that though, this place isn't for everyone.