How my job makes a difference in the world
March 9, 2021
IT grad, Lance Fawkes, who joined Accenture in October 2018, wanted his work to have a real-world impact. Having become an Agile Scrum master, last year, he helped implement the Australian government’s economic stimulus measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I did a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, so I didn’t get too much coding experience. I wasn’t really looking to become a software developer analyst. But I thought Accenture aligned with a lot of my values. I liked its focus on creating shared value that benefits everyone. I wanted to see a real-world impact from my work.
Even before I got a job offer, I was impressed. Rather than boardroom interviews, the Accenture assessment gets you to work in a small team to solve a real-world problem. It was a really positive experience.
My Dog Henry and me
After onboarding and orientation, I was lucky enough to be offered work on an internal project for one of Accenture’s innovation hubs, The Garden. It was a great experience that prepared me for client work and gave me contacts in the innovation space.
I started out as a system tester for a major government client and eventually became a team lead. The job sounds technical, but actually it’s about how a person experiences all the systems we’re creating. It’s really rewarding being a team leader. I’ve learnt to train and motivate others and lead them to deliver important pieces of work.
When the country went into lockdown, my team played a key role in creating the systems that would allow companies to claim stimulus support from the government. I was one of the scrum masters helping to deliver the main release. It was great to be involved in such a high-impact and high-profile piece of work that helped so many Australians.
The urgency made it pretty intense. What would normally have taken four months had to happen in just one. I met lots of new people as Accenture brought in skills from Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Manilla as we raced to get the system working.
Since I joined Accenture, I’ve done a massive amount of learning and development. Some of that was formal training – everything from “Presentation Dynamics” to “Agile Scrum Training”. But most of it was on-the-job learning, which I like.
My team leaders not only supported me and built me up but taught me to be a self-sufficient learner. I still look to my managers for help, but increasingly I use the skills they’ve taught me, like forward-thinking where you learn to look for issues before they come up.
I’ve made good use of Accenture’s career counseling program. They help you think about where you want to go, advise you how to get there and give you the right contacts. In the early days, I was given the opportunity to sit in on round tables in different policy areas to get an understanding of what’s involved. Right now, I’m looking for roles in the transport sector and hoping to move from testing to high-level change management.
Importantly, Accenture makes sure you have opportunities to take breaks and have fun. We have social events with other grads, Friday night games with our team and end-of-release parties. When we all had to work from home, they organised 5-minute coffee meet-ups and regular social catch-ups to keep us all connected.
MS Fun Run 2019 with Accenture
The thing to understand about Accenture is it’s not just a technical company. There are people here from all walks of life, with all kinds of different expertise. The firm’s reach goes in so many directions. The variety of clients and career options is incredible.
Are you ready to work at the heart of change?
We believe that positive change happens when we combine technology and human ingenuity. To bring in the most ingenious talent into the equation, we’re looking to hire people like you—passionate, forward thinkers who want to do extraordinary things and make an impact.
Join us and let’s create something incredible.
Applications for our graduate roles are now open:
Australia - 1st March to 15th March 2021
New Zealand - 22nd Feb to 15th March 2021
