As part of the Northern California Analyst Action Team [NCAT] leadership, I recently participated in a national networking call of Analyst Action Teams [AAT] from around the US. We spoke to analysts in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta about the networking, social, and community service activities that they plan in order to raise the level of engagement of analysts in those cities. Since many of us travel and work with folks from other cities, we don’t spend much time in our home offices or meeting other Analysts from our hometowns. The Analyst Action Teams and events are just another way that we help people get involved in our communities. The NCAT group has put together a San Francisco scavenger hunt, happy hours, volunteer events at local schools, lunch and learns with Senior Executives, and information sessions on promotions and benefits.

Aside from good ideas for future events, I was inspired by a personal story on the call. One of the New York analysts told us that he was gearing up for a trip around Europe this summer [read past blog entries on the great PTO that Accenture offers], and that he’ll be staying at the homes of Analysts that he met from his time in Core Analyst School. What a great way to couch surf and use the Accenture global network to your advantage!

With a successful go-live of a major release, the project where I’m staffed is in a state of flux. Many players on our team are rolling off the project, which makes for some interesting reorganization of resources. It’s an exciting time because it means moving on to something new. Personally, my roll-off date is confirmed and I’m working to finalize my next staffing opportunity.

The system test team has been a good first role because it emphasizes the necessity for quality assurance in our products. Moving forward, I’m hoping to get exposure to various other efforts of the software development lifecycle, like design and application development. So far this is looking hopeful.

Fact: Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh on average 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15-100 times I day. (I guess that depends on who you are friends with and how you spend your free time. I would have to say I laugh WAY more then 100 times a day).

There are 18 major life events that psychologists have identified as critical stressors:

Sacramento Accenture folks recently spent some time volunteering at Oak Park Preschool. With the help of Hands on Sacramento, we painted the newly poured blacktop with lines, shapes, letter and numbers, organized files, and (of course) upgraded learning software on PCs. I helped paint the perimeter and bright orange triangle, which is now home to the number ‘8’, then moved inside to install kid’s software like Dora’s Backpack and Pooh Preschool. Ironically, I ended up back in front of a computer like always, but this one was housed in a colorful plastic workstation about one foot off the ground with tiny keyboard and mouse.

As I stretched my legs out yesterday evening on the 10-hour flight home from London, I can feel a knot form in the pit of my stomach. Tomorrow I am beginning my new project for a new client, with a new team, in a new location. What a change!

After an hour of butterflies in my stomach, as I drive south-bound on highway 101 (and no, it wasn’t the bumper-to-bumper traffic that was creating my nervousness), I arrive at the client site in sunny California. It’s so nice to be local for a little while. My new role is to help the project team (which will consist of three other members) develop a customer service support framework. It’s very neat to have an opportunity to work outside my operating group (Products NA) in a C&HT role. This is EXACTLY the kind of diversity I was looking for when I started with Accenture.

Thanks, Shawn, for providing such a hearty summary of Accenture’s new joiner orientation. I helped with last week’s office visit interview session again, and I think that is one of the most frequently asked questions for new analysts.

During weeks two and three of orientation, unlike Shawn, Jackie and I took Business Consulting Fundamentals [BCF], as we were both hired into the Business Consulting work group. Jackie and I were two of about 12 people around the world taking the course online. Each day, we’d work on economics, organization design and process modules individually and complete tasks related to those modules. We sent our trainer, a manager based in Detroit, e-mails with our progress and also posted our work and our thoughts on the course to a SharePoint website. About every other morning, we would get on an international conference call with others in Italy, Washington, Dallas, and Paris to discuss the coursework and answer questions.

Hey analyst bloggers, I'm a new hire for Accenture, and I'll be starting in the DC office on May 29. I was just wondering if you could maybe offer some insight on the training and first few weeks on the job. I'm really excited to start, but unsure what to expect. Thanks!

Good question, Christina. Jackie, Cristin and I all started together in the San Francisco office one fateful year ago. Despite this, our first five or so weeks looked somewhat different. I’ll let them speak to their individual training experiences. For all of us though, the first week was spent getting oriented: acquiring a laptop, e-mail and voicemail accounts, learning about benefits, core values, ethics, corporate brand name, diversity and inclusion initiatives, getting familiar with the seamless administrative resources that would otherwise make work feel like a red-tape frenzy. There’s a lot to learn, and many new names to associate to faces.