Accenture Interview Process for Software Engineers 2021

The Accenture interview process is fairly challenging when compared to standard corporate interviews. Software engineers are often daunted by the thought of taking  the interview, as the number of applicants is enormous and the acceptance rates are slim. Only with a well-crafted preparation strategy and consistent practice can this interview be cracked.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the Accenture interview process for 2021 and how to ace it. We’ll cover:

• About Accenture 
• Candidate Experience Required at Accenture Interviews
• How to Apply for Accenture Jobs
• Accenture Interview Process
• Accenture Immersive Online Assessment 
• How to Prepare for the Accenture Interview
• Tips to Ace Your Accenture Interview

About Accenture 

Accenture PLC is an industry-leading global management company that offers some of the most remarkable consulting services. The company’s credibility has helped it come up with a wide range of services, including business strategy, consulting, business operations, technology, and digital services. The company's headquarters are situated in Dublin, Ireland, and it was founded in 2009. Accenture currently offers its services to 94 companies out of Fortune’ Global 100. 

Accenture’s Working Model  

Accenture, in brief, is a consulting company. The company is vast, and thus, people generally tend to confuse the different departments in the firm. The following is a comprehensive summary of the working model of Accenture. 

Management Consulting 

This section of the firm briefly recommends and guides clients in understanding management strategies.  Guidance as to the type of companies to collaborate with, the methodology to run the supply chain more efficiently, and other such factors fall under this section.

Back office outsourcing 

Back office outsourcing is the most advanced and extensive section of the firm that deals with varied tasks like accounting, customer support, sales, finance, and so on. 

IT Consulting 

IT Consulting is another broad section of the company that looks into guiding and helping clients understand how to operate technologies that can influence success. Fundamentally, this department helps clients accomplish their core objectives by integrating technology into their operations and processes.  

Candidate Experience Required at Accenture Interviews

Candidates admitted that thorough preparation helped them calm their nerves before the interview. Whether or not you’ll land an offer entirely depends on how you prepare for your interview. Accenture is pretty thorough in terms of their hiring process, but as long as you come equipped with the skills, experiences, and work ethics necessary to fulfil the role, you have the chance to ace it for sure.

Academic criteria for accenture interview:

• Candidates with a relevant graduate degree and a GPA of 6.5 or an aggregate of 65% are eligible to apply to Accenture.
• Candidates with an active backlog during the recruitment process will not be eligible for the interview.
• Only a maximum of one gap year is allowed throughout your education.

How to Apply for Accenture Jobs

Candidates can check out the official webpage of Accenture to apply for various positions.
The official website of Accenture has a careers section where you can look at vacant positions the company is hiring for and apply according to your skills and experience.

While applying to positions, make sure your LinkedIn profile is updated and optimized with the right keywords that describe your skills and experience. 

Accenture Interview Process

The Accenture interview process for coding engineers is fairly vast and exhaustive. To begin, you will have to send your cover letter and resume, after which you will have to prepare for about three to five interview rounds. 

The interview process at Accenture includes the following rounds:

• Technical Rounds 
• HR Round
• Accenture Potentia Interview
• Accenture case interviews
• Accenture Fit/PEI interviews

Technical Round

The technical round essentially seeks to evaluate the coding and programming skills of the candidate. Your knowledge of data structures, algorithms, engineering design, and database management is evaluated in this round. Depending on the position you’re applying to, you can expect to be tested in additional areas. For instance, if you’re applying for a network engineer role, your knowledge in networking systems and network security is evaluated.   

To crack the technical rounds at Accenture, software engineers must be good with programming languages like C++, Java, networking, data structures, DBMS, OOPs, etc.

The technical round consists of the following phases:

• Phone Screen
• On-site Technical Interview

For the phone interview, you should choose a programming language that you are most proficient in. Be prepared to answer questions about any technical achievements or recent problems you faced and the solutions you came up with for them.

The on-site interview is conducted to test your technical knowledge and approach to solving technical problems. Some of the questions that are asked during the technical interview at Accenture include:

1. What is Exception Handling?
2. What does encapsulation mean in Java?
3. What is runtime polymorphism?
4. What are access specifiers in C++?
5. What is XML in DBMS?
6. What is the difference between a hot backup and a cold backup?
7. What makes C a procedural language?
8. What are OOPs concepts?

Recommended Reading:
The Ultimate Guide to Crack Apple’s On-site Interview
Amazon Onsite Interview Questions

HR Round

The next round is the HR round which comprises a set of behavioral questions and questions related to your experience (as seen in your resume). Following are some sample questions: 

• Why choose Accenture? 
• Tell us about yourself.
• Where do you potentially see yourself five years from now? 
• Why did you apply for his position?
• What do you think makes you stand out?
• How do you stay  consistent and motivated?
• What is your biggest professional achievement?
• What is an ideal boss for you?
• What are your weaknesses, and how do you cope with them?
• How do you deal with stress related to work?

Recommended Reading: Behavioral Interview Questions for Software Developers

Potentia Interview

When applying to Accenture, one of the prime interviews you’ll be required to take is a one-hour assessment known as Potentia Interview. The interview is designed to test the strategic thinking ability and creativity of the candidate.

During the Potentia interview, you will be provided with a short paragraph on any topic.  Once you are done analyzing the information, you have to share your initial thoughts with the interviewer, after which they will ask you some questions related to the topic. 

The interview lasts up to 45-60 minutes and is conversational. It tests the candidate’s ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions. Thus, candidates have to take a conversational and well-structured approach to answer the questions. It’s also very important to be well-rested the night before to be quick and snappy during the interview.

Accenture Case Interviews 

Accenture utilizes candidate-led case interviews. These are quite similar to that of Bain and BCG. Candidates should thus be prepared to not merely participate in conversations but lead them.  Accenture usually offers written case information at the initial stage of the case interview.  This interview is more structured and organized than conventional interviews. 

Due to this, these questions can be overwhelming to answer. Just do your best to provide relevant, concise, and sophisticated answers while keeping your grace and confidence intact. To prepare for this type of interview, you may need to get insights into the factors below. 

• Situation 
• Framework development 
• Quant question — data provided 
• Quant question — data not provided 
• Framework exploration
• Creativity question 
• Recommendation 

The following tips can help you in the case interviews:

• Understand the question: You can paraphrase the question before stating the answer to ensure you understand the problem. If the question isn’t very clear to you, don’t hesitate to ask.
• Take notes: You’re most likely allowed to take notes, and you can even bring graph paper in case you need to show graphs and charts. 
• Use a framework: When you start your case interview, make sure that you structure and map out a noteworthy framework. You can organize your thoughts better this way.

• Answer questions professionally: Strive to avoid going too casual and always sit up straight, talk clearly, make eye contact, and stay graceful throughout. 
• Think about what the interviewer wants: Make sure that you also give thought to how your interviewer may evaluate your answer. Generally, they do this by evaluating the following two factors — the range of your ideas and how practical your answer is.

Accenture Fit/PEI Interviews 

Here are the most common PEI questions that you should prepare for while applying for the position of software developer at Accenture. 

• Why choose Accenture? 
• Tell me something that isn’t on your resume.
• What is your biggest accomplishment? 

Accenture Immersive Online Assessment 

In addition to the rounds covered above, Accenture is also known to conduct an immersive online assessment, which includes a general aptitude test, verbal ability test, and logical altitude test. Every candidate is advised to prepare thoroughly for each of these sections as they do contribute to your overall evaluation. 

Numerical and Logical Reasoning Tests 

Numerical and logical reasoning tests are entirely based on your skills. You may need to answer several reasoning questions that are majorly based on your problem-solving skills. 

Digital Interview 

The digital interview will be conducted online. For this, candidates need to follow the protocols of standard interviews. It is recommended that you maintain the dress code. Staying confident is the key to acing your interview. Candidates who are nervous may hinder their chances of succeeding. The best way you can overcome this nervousness is by practicing well beforehand.

How to Prepare for the Accenture Interview

Here are some tips for you to boost your interview prep. From the technical interview to other major interviews you need to crack, here are some tips to prepare well for your Accenture interview. 

Practice Consistently

Only with consistent efforts and commitment can one ace the Accenture interview. You have to regularly practice coding questions to brush up on your skills. Being aware of the type of questions that are generally asked will also help you be confident on the day of the interview. 

Most successful candidates believe that practicing technical interview questions is the key to beating the Accenture interview process. Find as many interview questions as you can and practice them well before heading to the interview. Practicing coding questions will not only help you solve specific problems but also improve your approach toward solving related questions. 

Check out the following pages for a collection of interview questions, and problems asked at top tech companies:

• Interview Questions
• Problems

2. Boost Your Math Skills 

Improving your math skills generally gives you the ability to think analytically and become a better coder in the process. The first step to succeed at your job interview is to boost your math skills. While not all of us may be born with essential math skills, regular practice can go a long way. Most candidates suggested that when they improved their math skills, their interview went comparatively well.

Sell Yourself

You may not be totally comfortable with the idea of selling yourself, but you don’t really have to make it sound or seem too forced. The point is to simply acknowledge and be confident in your professional experiences and skills. 

Don’t be modest about your accomplishments and make sure you share them. Whenever you are asked or have the opportunity to sell yourself, do it the best way possible because you worked hard for your skills and they deserve to be proclaimed.

Tips to Ace Your Accenture Interview 

The interview is a test of your ability to think, code and solve problems. The technical interview round may seem daunting at first, but with adequate preparation, you can easily ace it. Some tips to help you ace your Accenture interview for software engineers are provided below.

• Learn all the concepts: You have to excel at concepts such as coding, algorithm, data structures, etc., to be able to ace the technical interview at Accenture. When practicing and preparing for the interview, focus on algorithm-based and system design problems.
• Improve your problem-solving skills: With practice, you can become an expert in solving any type of problem. This skill can only be perfected when you consistently solve questions every day. This will change the way you understand and approach any given problem.
• Clarify your doubts: Join online forums or use other resources to clarify any doubts you may have before the interview process. You should be completely prepared to face any type of question during the interview.
• Think out loud: This can prove to be extremely beneficial in letting the interviewer know your approach to solving problems.
• Take up mock interviews: You practice mock interviews with peers or hiring managers to gain experience. This will help you get feedback on areas that you need to improve on. Consider joining an interview prep program like Interview Kickstart to practice mock interviews with actual hiring managers and tech leads from FAANG and tier-1 tech companies.
• Be calm and composed: You have to remain calm during the interview. Take your time to understand the questions given to you and if possible, try to lay out a strategy before you start solving them. 
• Ask questions: Be prepared to ask questions to the interviewer at the end of the interview. This will show your interest and insight into the company and the position that you are applying for. 

Are You Ready to Nail Your Next Accenture Interview?

Since its inception in 2014, Interview Kickstart has helped thousands of experienced engineers realize their true calling. We aim to help engineers get better acquainted with the intricacies of their chosen field and provide them with all the guidance they need to clear interviews with tech giants. 

Knowing very well that clearing an interview requires much more than sound technical knowledge, we train you in a manner that helps you develop a winner's stride. IK is your golden ticket to land the job you deserve.

Want to learn more? Sign up for our FREE webinar on How to Nail Your Next Tech Interview.