Hi GuysI have just been offered a job in Accenture at a manager level in London. I have 2 specific questions1) My offer letter states " In addition to base pay all executives will be eligible to participate in the Annual Bonus Plan. Your target incentive will be 8% of your base earnings, and payout is dependent on company performance" ... Is the Bonus really this low or does it differ from offer to offer??? Can I earn more than 8% also or is that unlikely. 2) I am new to consulting. I had interviewed for a SM position but they told me since I have no consulting experience they would take me as an experienced manager.. Is there anything as Experienced manager in Accenture???I would be grateful for any answers/advice..Thanks

Wow! Well done! And what do you mean, 8% is low?? 8% is awesome!!!You've got an awesome opportunity here. Accenture is a big global company that does ground-breaking work and has a reputation for catapulting people forward in their careers. You have a world of opportunity in front of you now! Well done!

Yes, 8% is the baseline depending on what position you get in the annual laddering.To get more (or sometimes just this...) you will need to be A, SA or VT. The bonus is definitely not guaranteed. I would think of it just as it is called "a bonus" - it is not necessarily paid out.They are bringing you in as an experienced hire - this could happen at any level but typically if you have little/no previous consulting experience it may be a lower level than expected (possibly the salary is OK though). Expect years of experience divided by at least 2 if not 3 or 4 then you may be near to where you have been placed.To be fair to Accenture this will help you adjust to working in the company with no network, history, etc. and help you in the event of potentially ending up at the bottom of the ladder as no-one will know or support you! Better to start on a lower level and prove yourself to the powers that be (and hopefully the role/s will be "easier") than get into a higher level and be counselled out fairly sharpish.

In what other sector would you get away with saying..."We value your experience enough to hire you, but as it has not been gained while working for our company, we're going to demote you in the hope that lower performance requirement of the more junior grade compensates for the fact that we have little intention of helping you break into our petty, insular network, on which we rely for assessing the performance of our employees. In the meantime we'll maximise your experience by billing clients for it while simultaneously denying its existence in any conversations we have with you regarding your career progression"Do enjoy your new job with accentuatethepositivevaluesofmanure.

Sam278220 years ago I interviewed at a big4 firm as they liked the look of my cv. I was coming from an industry/client role and was on a fasttrack career.The partner told me I was just their sort of guy, but as I was on 35k and asking for 45, they wouldn't be able to take me on. At that price they'd need to make me a manager and I'd never been a consultant (though i was already a manager and leader of a team of ten at my employers).Would I consider a 33k role as a consultant, in order to make the break into the industry, he asked?I politely shook his hand a went on my way. Over the next six months I politely declined two more big4 firms, before joining a niche consulting firm who paid me...45k.Within 2 years I was on 60k, within four I was on an 85k basic with 100k OTE. The year after I was headhunted to start my own practice at a competitor. Today I am routinely approached about Director level roles at big4 firms and it tickles me pink that they still "cant afford me"Just how much do you want a business card with "Accenture" on it and how much do you believe in yourself?

Hi Guys Thanks for your good wishes and invaluable views.. BEP & Supersoul - I am extremely excited to be associated with Accenture and do think its going to be a good move for my career. I was merely checking because in my last company(an end user) the bonus was 15%.. I have got a decent basic and from what I gather from the other threads its considerably more than the figures quoted for manager level. So in all I am happy about the money situation but was just wanting a bit more clarity. In regards with the experienced hire bit, I just wanted to know if there is actually a fast track and when they say that they are looking to promote me to a SM ASAP, Do they mean it or is it a way of just bringing ppl in... The reason I ask this question is to set my expectations right (in my own head) from the very start.I know I am from the industry but I have 10 solid years of experience with some really big companies so I am guessing I should not take a lot of time to understand the ways of consulting(I might be awfully wrong too lol)Mr. Cool - I think what you mentioned are great achievements and someday I would definitely like to go down that route. However I think for now I want to stick to a big ship. Having said that you have definitely given me a good perspective for the future. Thanks

I don't honestly think there is an Quick route to SM. This is a very difficult promotion point and you will be with tens if not hundreds of others trying to do the same and you won't have any network to begin with. You will just be a resource to be used and abused!Suspect this is the partner talking things up but you never know...

As super soul said, the promotion to SM is a difficult one and is a promotion that can only happen once a year. The promotion window is in December. This is new this year.If you start in December 2014 you will be laddered against your peers at Manager level. This means that say there are 1000 Managers in your peer group, you'll be given a rank between 1 and 1000. A certain percentage of the 1000 will fall into performance categories of Below, Consistent With, Above, Significantly Above. Your competition will have had 3 plus years at Manager and probably the majority will have started at Analyst. They will know how to play the game, their network will be strong etc. Some of these Managers will have just missed out promotion to SM this year and be hugely frustrated that they will have to wait another year for promotion. You will be new into the company, your old company in industry will have had a very different performance management system.It is extremely difficult to be judged anything above Consistent With in your first year. The laddering panel will be looking for easy options, it will be very easy for them to justify in their minds - first year, came from industry etc. This will mean you will not get promoted in December 2015 and you will have to wait until 2016 until promotion.Accenture Managing Directors/Partners can be very good at making promises because of their over inflated view of their influence in the company. I would be very wary of the promise to be fast tracked. If you are happy to come into Accenture, earn that salary for the next 2 years as well as a 5 to 10% bonus, then come. If your absolute expectation is that you will get promoted next year, then this is extremely unlikely.

2 points:- re promotion there are still a lot of managers who got top ratings in the recent round but didn't get promotion - they will be ahead of you- re bonus they just announced today that on top of the bonus you've been advised of managers will also get an addition 1%-7% if they get an above or higher in the ratings

Decent. I look forward to hearing from my CC.

I have to say, I am a little disappointed on the promotion bit because this was definitely not how it was sold to me

Welcome to Accenture! At least you are getting your disappointment in early.

[quote]Decent. I look forward to hearing from my CC.[/quote]In 2015 for managers and above

I know its been discussed before but just for the sake of asking what is the top level of basic + car can a manager achieve in Accenture??

£82k I would have thought, if you've been with the company for a while and have some mad technical/hot skills. If you're a new joiner then I would guess anywhere between £65k and £75k. Any higher than that and you'd be looking at SM.

HI all,New to the site...great topic to read for potential industry hire.I have an offer from "not Big 4" firm but it was low-ball (cash + level) because I ONLY have 15yrs industry experience but no direct consultancy experience.I said "no thank you" so was asked to come back in and discuss.I don't want to haggle over salary on an entry level consultant grade otherwise I am in the same pool as all others coming through the ranks trying to get promoted from within.My challenge is I'm a little late entering the industry ;)