Case studies : Industrial placement, Accenture: Samuel Holmes

Samuel Holmes completed a six month industrial placement with the company.

Accenture attracted me because the company was innovative, had a strong global reputation and offered excellent training to all employees. 

I researched the company and industry by attending career fairs and looking at the website. I completed an online application form which asked about experience, motivations and knowledge of the company and industry. Once successful the next round was an interview with a business manager and then finally an assessment centre. Despite being nervous, this was good fun and allowed me to meet a number of employees which confirmed my motivations to join the company. The day consisted of a group case study and a second one-to-one interview.

Within the six months I worked in three very different roles. My first was working on a large bid for a government agency that required me to collate content from various teams within the business and put together a proposal on how Accenture would deliver the work. The hard work paid off as we subsequently won the bid. The second was working with a client in the Netherlands, helping the finance team to plan a new project. This developed my Excel skills and allowed me to travel around Europe. My final role was supporting the project management team for a client in Newcastle.
 
Not only did I learn a lot about business and consulting incredibly quickly, but I met some fantastic contacts who I am still in touch with, travelled the world and returned to university equipped with more skills and knowledge that I could apply to my final year of studies.