Internship Spotlight: Accenture — Federal Services Division

NAME: Carly Hilley

CLASS: MPSA ’13

INTERNSHIP: Accenture Federal Services Intern

LOCATION: Washington, DC

APPLICATION: Deadline January/February. Matt Upton will contact Bush students with information in the future.

DUTIES: Business Process Cost Reduction Analyst for Department of State • Performed cost reduction analysis activities for Department of State’s web-based information system that encompasses all of its supply chain functions • Gathered data inputs, analyzed and forecasted trends, and presented findings to user and software support teams • Recommended dozens of cost saving recommendations which will provide over $250,000 in cost savings to the client

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I truly enjoyed my experience with Accenture Federal Services in D.C. this summer. Accenture Federal Services is a subsidiary company of Accenture that contracts specifically with the federal government. AFS has numerous contracts with all types of agencies including Department of Defense, Department of State, National Security Agency, U.S. Navy, and Department of Education. Of the 45 interns in D.C., most of us were with different clients and sections within those projects. Accenture is a very large public company which has over 250,000 employees worldwide. They engage in all types of consulting, outsourcing, and technological support for nearly every major industry in the world, and the public sector. I spent most days at the State Department office in Rosslyn area, and only ventured to Accenture’s corporate office a few times throughout the summer. Much of the work I did was independent so I was able to work from home on Friday. Sometimes the commute in D.C. can be very long, so it was nice to save money and time by not commuting one day a week. I learned an immense amount about Accenture and the State Department through my internship. Given the recent State Department budget cuts, my role was to look at how the Integrated Logistics Management System’s application support team could continue to do more work with the same amount of resources. I compiled a list of 20 recommendations to save the client money which would result in a savings of $250,000 initially, and even more over time. Accenture has a very structured internship program with frequent networking events with senior executives, social events with other interns, and workshops that exposed us to all parts of the company. We spent a lot of time with the interns and Accenture employees outside of work going to dinner, tours of the city, baseball games, and other social events. Our end of year social took place at the National Air and Space Museum by the Dulles airport. It was a great opportunity to network with Accenture employees while having dinner next to the Discovery space shuttle! In mid-July, Accenture brought all 250 of its North American interns to Chicago for a 3-day leadership conference. It was here that we met many of Accenture’s corporate leadership, learned more about the company, and compared project experiences with other interns. It was through all of these outside experiences that gave me a greater understanding of the kind of company and atmosphere I want to work for after leaving the Bush School. One of the greatest perks of working for Accenture is that if they are happy with your work as an intern, they will offer you a job upon graduation. Upon given an offer, you are able to rank your office location. There is generally an Accenture office in every major city in the U.S., with opportunities to work abroad. There is a large chance that you will be traveling 50%-75% of the time as an Accenture employee, depending on the location of your home office. It is a great career for someone who wants to learn a variety of skills and work in many different industries all over the country. Next year I will be working as a Systems Integration Analyst in their Houston office and couldn’t be more excited to begin my career.