What’s it like in Accenture’s virtual graduate orientation?

You’re starting at Accenture as a graduate. Your orientation will be an exciting week of adventures in our offices… oh wait.

Welcome to virtual orientation – where our new joiners get to know the company and each other. You may not be shaking hands with me or your colleagues, but I promise you’ll be surprised at how much fun you have, how well you get to know people – and how much you learn.

Pre-orientation technical set up
The day before your orientation, your customised Accenture laptop will arrive at your home office. We’ll put you in touch with your local tech team, who’ll help you get set up over the phone. They also get you secure credentials so you can access all the Accenture systems, tools and learning platforms you’ll need to do your job and learn and grow in your role.

TEAM connects open and wrap up each day
On the first day, you’ll use Microsoft TEAMs to jump on a welcome call with your orientation coordinator. TEAMs is our main collaboration tool for video calls and project work. Via video and chat, you’ll meet a cohort of other grads, do some get-to-know-you activities and get a feel for what’s coming over the next four days.

This is where you start to build your Accenture community. You’re going to take a journey with this group, who’ll be from different offices and business units. Some of them may end up being close friends. All of them will have your back when you’re working in the business and have a question.

Each day, you’ll start with a ‘connect call’ with this group and end with a wrap up call. The end-of-day wrap is a great time to ask questions if something didn’t make sense – or you weren’t comfortable asking something in front of a wider audience. If you want to talk to the co-ordinator one-on-one, or just you have an admin question that you don’t want to bother everyone else with, you can use chat privately. And you can also use chat during the day to ask questions of the group.

Short, sharp, multi-modal sessions
Each day, between TEAM connects, you’ll have different types of short sessions, including:

• Team challenges – You’ll work in small groups on various topics and projects before presenting what you’ve worked on to the whole group. Depending on which part of the business you’re joining, you might work on a case study or build an app together.
• Leadership presentations – You’ll come together with other new joiners – some of them senior hires – to hear from our business leaders and have an opportunity to ask them questions.
• Self-directed learning – You’ll have a number of videos to watch and short learning modules to complete at your own pace. Many of these will familiarise you with different aspects of Accenture – our culture, values and structure. Others are more practical, like how to fill in Timesheets. Others are mandatory learning you have to complete for compliance. Don’t worry, the learning is pretty painless. We use quizzes and gamification to help you smash out these short modules. And, as you work through them, you’ll also be practicing using Accenture’s systems and processes.
• Meet your support group – You’ll also connect with your HR contacts and career counsellors – the people who will help you find your path and grow your career at Accenture. They’ll find out about your interests and steer you towards additional learning opportunities to help you achieve your goals. They’ll introduce you to your area of the business and get you ready to start work. You’ll find out what the next two years will mean for you, including where will our rotation program could lead you.

Work at your own pace
Between the scheduled sessions, you set the pace - it’s up to you what you complete and when. We’ll encourage you to take regular screen breaks, especially at lunch time. Screen fatigue is a real thing. Weather permitting, try to get some fresh air. Go for a run, or take your dog for a walk. Or do some stretching or mediate. Anything that gets you to completely disconnect for an hour before diving back in.

What’s next?
The next week, you’ll either start client work immediately or begin the learning journey you planned during orientation. After your first four days of foundational training, you’ll choose your own learning adventure using Accenture’s global learning platforms. Now’s the time to start joining Accenture communities, including volunteering groups, or checking out all the sites and blogs you book-marked during orientation.

How to make the most of orientation?

• Don’t stress – There’s nothing to do in advance other than talk to our IT folks and answer the co-ordinator’s emails.
• Dress for work – You don’t have to wear a suit, but you are going to meet some of Accenture’s senior leaders. Think smart casual.
• Be curious and open – It’s not like the structured approach you’re used to at uni, with set expectations and milestones. At Accenture, you choose what you’re interested in. Find out as much as you can about the business. Ask people questions about their own journey.
• Recognise it’s just the first step. At the end, don’t worry if you still feel you still have much to learn. Your training opportunities will continue past the orientation phase. You won’t know everything in four days, and you’ll still have lots of questions – but you should know where to find answers. You’ll know what resources and people are available and how to access them.
• Build your community – Afterwards, keep in touch with your start group and seek out the managers and advisers you met during orientation for regular catch ups.