It's been awhile since I posted here. I have been extremely busy at work and outside of work as well. As I have mentioned before, it’s not really an excuse for not blogging! So, here we go….

I have moved on from the client that I served for a long time, and now on a project with another. That’s great! Different industry, different expectations, so different experiences! Isn’t that what you want in your career? Being so used to project oriented work, moving around projects is like second nature now. Ensuring that you have documented what you have been doing as much as possible, transitioning to new people to the best of your ability and ensuring new people are guided to take on the role are some high-level points about it.

Over the last few months Accenture has given me some amazing opportunities that I would like to reflect on:

The first was a very successful release just prior to Christmas, where I acted in a Test Lead role. It was wonderful delivering a high quality product that had great feedback both from the customers at Project level, but also users of the system. I enjoyed being challenged to deliver the best we can, and believe the results reflect the effort put in. Being part of a distributed team across Australia (managed from Canberra, built in Brisbane and tested in Wollongong) itself presented some unique opportunities to grow some of my personal skills, including time management and stepping up to the plate to fill a requirement that is not part of my role description. These learnings continue to grow as we prepare to deliver phase 2.

I find myself in an interesting position. Here I am in week three on a new project - my first new project within Accenture (after my initial assignment). It has been an interesting process to get to this point, as I have been officially on the bench while waiting for the client to sign the contract. This has been a great opportunity to do my required online training, as well as get up to speed on more Accenture Delivery Methods processes. I have also been able to schedule extra time with my counselees to see how they have been tracking to date whilst also taking the opportunity to catch up on some administrative tasks that are required around performance reviews etc.

During the last few weeks we have had two great "community" events. The first was a local event that saw us traipsing around Wollongong on foot to find clues and face challenges in mixed teams (ala Amazing Race"), purely for gloating rights. It was a fun afternoon as we got to know our colleagues that we might not normally work with in a casual setting (most would not call it "relaxed" as we sped from check point to check point on our - for some - not so fit legs).

It's been awhile since I posted here. I have been extremely busy at work and outside of work as well. Anyway, I agree that it’s not an excuse for not blogging. So I will talk about a few random things here today.

I am transitioning out of my current role and transitioning into a new one, so it’s really an exciting time period. I am a bit busy because I have to look into things with both teams but still it’s great to be moving into something different. The new role is with the same client, but a different area related to test operations, something that I have never really done before, so this would be a great learning experience whilst enjoying a change. This is why Accenture is such a great place to work for.

I'm currently working at Accenture full-time and studying a part-time course in Sustainability. My study commitments mean that I am trying to limit evening and weekend work. I currently spent 2-3 hours studying three weeknights per week, plus do some reading and assignment work on weekends. I have six days per semester where I attend classes on campus - two that I can charge in as training under Accenture policy and four that I take as annual leave.

Since returning from Malaysia, I've been riding my bicycle to and from work every day. I find that this is a great way to get some exercise and is actually faster than public transport. Plus, I get to spend an extra hour each day outside, which is a huge bonus. There is a shower in both the Accenture office and on the client site which I use when I arrive at work.

How exciting....We are about to come to the end of our current work load that will see our first deployment to Production. The team is getting keen to see the results of the last 12 months hard work going live, so we are all working at a frantic pace to meet the deliverable deadlines. So, one of the biggest questions from most of the guys in my team is 'Where am I headed next?', which I think is one of the challenging and rewarding aspects of working at Accenture......new opportunities.

Some will go to the same client, but to a new team using their existing skills for next the stage of the project; others will stay with the same client but roll into a new skillset; whilst still others may be slated for new work that is scheduled to come on site for new clients. Lucky it is not my task to reschedule resources! We are also coming up to our annual review period, so making sure the 'housekeeping' work is up to date is a current priority for everyone. We have dual responsibilities as Accenture employees - one, to our client and, two, to our company to provide the best possible inputs and outputs as requested.

Core Analyst School - Malaysia

Core Analyst School (CAS) is a required course for all new analysts. We typically recommend that an analyst enrols in the school 6-12 months after joining. This lets them get some experience on project so that they have some context for what they learn at CAS, and can also bring some of their own experiences to share with the other participants. The Asia Pacific region hosts CAS in Malaysia (about 40km outside of KL) and the rest of the globe typically go to St Charles (near Chicago).