New month. New job. New adventure.
March 4, 2021
Claire Guiver’s gauge of success is that she’s never bored. By that measure, she gives Accenture Strategy 11/10. Find out about the crazy breadth of her experience, what the culture is like and how she manages to fit in her passion for competitive horse riding.
Strategy consulting appealed to me because it brings together smart people from diverse educational backgrounds and perspectives to solve real-life, complex business problems.
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I chose Accenture because it’s a global powerhouse.
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You only need to look at the history of our share price to see how the market views us. We have a global reach, global clients, global capability – and the ability to offer our clients the whole deal: strategy all the way through to implementation to operations.
Accenture also operates at the intersection of business and technology. And having TQ (Technology Quotient – your ability to integrate technology into your work), as our global CEO Julie Sweet call it, is absolutely critical if you want to work in consulting these days.
Since I joined in March 2019, I’ve worked on a wide variety of projects across different industries and had amazing learning opportunities. Every 4-12 weeks I start a new client engagement, which is like starting a new job. You have to get up to speed very quickly on the client’s business problem, which usually involves learning about a new subject matter and industry in detail.
In my first six months, I was lucky enough to work with Accenture Interactive on a digital media operating model for a global brand. Incredibly, I got to travel to South Korea and helped craft the strategic narrative that was presented to their Chief Marketing Officer.
We also work with non-profits and social entrepreneurs. That’s important to me. I studied international development, so I’m always looking for projects where our work makes a real difference in the community. I’ve really enjoyed working on government health projects, making sure data flows seamlessly to improve health outcomes.
My gauge of success is that I’m never bored. I get calls from friends in other companies who say they’re counting down the minutes to the end of the day – they’re so bored and not learning. At Accenture, it’s the opposite.
Opportunities are self-driven and there for the taking. If you want to learn a new skill, Accenture has a course you can do or someone you can learn from. I’ve already developed a broad and highly transferable Strategy skillset, including storytelling, strategic visioning, structured problem solving, financial modeling, ethnographic research and co-design workshop facilitation.
The culture in our team is great. We’re a bunch of like-minded people. It doesn’t matter if you’re a managing director or an analyst, everyone is encouraged to have a point of view and challenge the thinking.
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Analysts are also given autonomy to own client deliverables and facilitate client workshops, with mentoring in place to ensure you succeed.
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Outside client work, the personal and professional development opportunities are endless. Whatever your passion project is if you let your manager or career counselor know, they’ll help you make it happen.
I’m actively involved in Strategy Inclusion and Diversity and our Training and Development working group. I’m passionate about ensuring our women are equipped with the right skillsets and given the right opportunities to help them succeed.
I’m also a competitive horse rider. It’s a time-consuming hobby and, at times, I struggle to balance it with work. This year, my team is supporting me to have a late start on Thursdays so I can have an early morning riding lesson.
It’s so important to have an outlet outside work – and to have an employer who prioritises your well-being.
With my competition horse ‘Revelwood Dark Knight’ aka 'Darcy’
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Australia - 1st March to 15th March 2021
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