Accenture Final Interview
MACHINE LEARNING
- A type of AI that enables systems to learn patterns from STRUCTURED data and improve on their performance from experience (recommendations when shopping online)
DEEP LEARNING
- A type of machine learning methodology where a system learns patterns from the data it is fed and automatically learns in a HIERARCHICAL LAYER approach (solving a puzzle, edges/corners, color, images)
What does Accenture do?
- Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Leveraging our deep expertise across industries and business functions, we help organizations shape their vision for the future. - Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland
COMPANY, BEST FIT, PURPOSE FOR APPLYING - Why Accenture? - Why are you interested in this position? - What do you know about our company and why do you want to work here?
- Accenture is known to be one of the front leaders in the tech industry and their known for their incredible solutions and services by providing a platform to solve businesses needs. - As a graduate from SJSU, I had many classmates of mine who interviewed for Accenture. One of them being my old colleague/co-worker Sheethal. She received an offer from Accenture initially as an analyst - She spoke highly of Accenture's work-balance lifestyle and how the skills that we learned in the CMPE program at SJSU are highly practiced/encouraged at the company - She also spoke about the impact that they had as new additions to the team that they were apart of and how you get to interact with higher analysts - In addition, she mentioned how Accenture is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse culture - And how they invest in their new hires by ensuring that they are offered with opportunities and given proper training to succeed and launch their career - Therefore, when I heard about the positions at Accenture I loved the idea of helping develop software solutions and getting the opportunity to analyze what technologies are best for clients and their needs. - Overall, Accenture challenges their employees, and where I can build my software career and explore where my interests lie/launch my career "The people are great and you get a rotation of project and even interact with higher officials, but technically not the highest possible technology you will be working with on your first project. But it gets better after the first one and you enter into technical roles."
FAILURES - Tell me about a time you failed - Describe your biggest work failure. How did you handle it?
- Assumed an assignment deadline - Being a CMPE student, most of our assignments needed to be submitted to the Course Management System - Canvas - Of all the semesters and courses I have taken at SJSU all of them needed to be submitted at 11:59pm - It wasn't until my last semester at SJSU that I did not pay enough attention to specific deadline information - It was for one of my hardware courses in which a lab report was due and I figured that it was the usual 11:59pm deadline - It was then I realized once I submitted my lab report that it was marked in RED "LATE" on Canvas and I wondered why - Knowing that lab reports made up a large portion of my overall grade, I emailed my professor immediately - My professor responded that it was stated in the lab report syllabus and that no late reports were accepted, no exceptions - It was my first lab report that I submitted during the semester for the course, so from this experience I learned to never assume a deadline or any information and to carefully take note of all requirements and clarify any confusion beforehand
ASK THE INTERVIEWER - Do you have any questions for me?
- Besides challenging my technical skillset, what other growth opportunities does Accenture offer for their new hires? - What are the current challenges that your team is currently facing and how do you usually approach the problem? - What can you tell me about the opportunities in promoting Accenture as a whole and giving back? - What is the training like as a new hire at Accenture? --- - ENDING - I believe you answered all the questions that I have prepped for you. - With that being said I just want to thank you for your time in interviewing me and I enjoyed sharing with you my experiences and learning more about the position and your background - THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT REST OF YOUR DAY!
MANAGING A TEAM CONFLICT - Tell me about a time you worked in a team and had to manage a conflict - Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work - What was the biggest conflict that you have faced and what did you do?
- Collaborating on a final project report and presentation (S) - In one of my semesters at SJSU, I was taking a data structures and algorithms course - I was in a group of 4 people managing not only developing the source code for my team's web application but also in charge of submitting our final project report and presentation slides - This project was an end of semester project, so we were working on a very tight deadline since presentation dates were already set up (T) - We had our final milestone submission coming up and since I was in charge of both development and submissions, one of my team members who was very talented developer, unfortunately, did not do their part of the report that needed explanation of the code written and their power point slides - When trying to reach and out contact them, our team did not get receive any notification from them (A) - To emphasize again, this was a time during the semester where most of the classes had final reports and projects due themselves, so everyone in our team was scrambling and trying to collaborate with one another to produce content and have something to submit. - For myself, I took initiative and wrote descriptions for the methods and algorithms that were used in our source code - The team member who was very talented showed up in lecture, and when I approached them, instead of showing arrogance I acknowledged their presence and asked if something came up in the past week for them miss the deadline and not finish their part for the project submission - I was upfront about our team's deadlines and explained the reasoning in the importance of having their work completed for the sake of our grade for the project - After realizing and listening, that they have been overwhelmed with other projects for other courses and their part-time job I asked if there was any way that I can help come up with a solution - They offered to give some of the role responsibilities to another person in the team - We agreed that the role they were given was too time-consuming in combination with their other class projects and that for the sake of delivering a high-quality application and presentation it would be better for them to step down (R) - This opened up an opportunity for myself to step as a leader and to really focus on coding and delegate tasks to ensure a successful presentation - As a result, our team was able to successfully submit a fully working application on time, deliver a presentation, and complete the report
LEADING OTHERS - Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult challenge - Tell me about a time you had to collaborate with a coworker who was tough to please
- For instance let me give you an example of how I practiced my adaptability, proved my dedication to delivering on time, demonstrated my receptiveness/curiosity and someone who takes initiative to be an effective communicator - In order to obtain my CMPE degree, I needed to complete a senior project design. - In brief the senior project design project was a web application that achieved bridging the gap between vehicle users who have gotten in minor car accidents and car repair shop owners so that real time feedback could be delivered. - Over the course of developing the projects, there were many versions that were discussed however there were a few modifications given by our project advisor that needed to be changed right before our project deadline - In order for our team to deliver the results that our group advisor wanted on time, I needed to be receptive on the feedback and try to learn the new technologies and discard the initial idea - However, the feedback modifications provided by our advisor was unfeasible to deliver the high-quality results, so stepping and being vocal to say that although his input was gladly taken into consideration, in order for our team to produce the best results the team needed to keep in mind the quality of code to implement and that his ideas would be considered as future work. - Therefore from this experience, I learned that in software development you must be receptive, adaptable, and do whatever it takes to complete the task while speaking up when necessary
Strength Scenario
- For instance let me give you an example of how I practiced my adaptability, proved my dedication to delivering on time, demonstrated my receptiveness/curiosity and someone who takes initiative to be an effective communicator - In order to obtain my CMPE degree, I needed to complete a senior project design. - In brief the senior project design project was a web application that achieved bridging the gap between vehicle users who have gotten in minor car accidents and car repair shop owners so that real time feedback could be delivered. - Over the course of developing the projects, there were many versions that were discussed however there were a few modifications given by our project advisor that needed to be changed right before our project deadline - In order for our team to deliver the results that our group advisor wanted on time, I needed to be receptive on the feedback and try to learn the new technologies and discard the initial idea - However, the feedback modifications provided by our advisor was unfeasible to deliver the high-quality results, so stepping and being vocal to say that although his input was gladly taken into consideration, in order for our team to produce the best results the team needed to keep in mind the quality of code to implement and that his ideas would be considered as future work. - Therefore from this experience, I learned that in software development you must be receptive, adaptable, and do whatever it takes to complete the task while speaking up when necessary
3) The benefits of implementing this technology for businesses in your chosen industry
- From a business standpoint, the AI health market is set to see an explosive growth - From previous data that was discovered, the growth in the AI health market is expected to reach up to $6.6 billion by 2021 - Analyzing the numbers from 2014, the compound growth rate increased by 40% since the value of the market size was only $600 million - As I spoke about the top AI applications based on Accenture's analysis, it is estimated that the total potential annual benefits for each application will reach $150 billion by 2026 - Based on these numbers, AI proves that those that adopt the technology in the health industry will not only deliver high-quality cost-effective care but will become the front leading competitors in health care - Overall, according to Accenture's analysis, incorporating AI technology will address the unmet PHYSICIAN SHORTAGE in healthcare, magnify CARE REACH by providing a seamless experience, and improving SECURITY by delivering and focusing on efficiency and transparency
Definition: Difficult conversations
- Giving and receiving tough feedback - Addressing conflict or negotiating a salary
CLIENT CHALLENGES
- Lastly, in the Client Challenges section, the assessor will present you with some client challenges you may face at Accenture and ask how you would approach the scenarios. - Push you to do your very best work - Question your ideas and assumptions - Require you to explain what you're doing - Push you need to meet tough deadlines - Require that you apply your skills and expertise and emotional intelligence - Understand the importance behind their micro-management - Initial approach might feel risky to them
Accenture's Main Competitors
- Mckinsey & Company - The Boston Consulting Group - Bain and Company
4) Set Boundaries
- Modern client service business can become 24/7 if you let them. - While responsiveness is essential to building strong client relationships, you need to calibrate. - Set a target response time that is appropriate for the business and the type of request. - Distinguish between emergencies and non-emergencies. - Even if you choose to work late, don't send emails at all hours of the night, which signals that you are available during those hours. - Instead, if you do go online after hours, queue your emails to send the next morning at 6 a.m. or 7:00 a.m.
3) Up your communications game.
- Most clients like to know what's going on, so it is better to be proactive and over-communicate than wait for them to bug you and be reactive. - Even though you may want to avoid them, keep them updated on progress. - Practice active listening and play back to them what they say to reassure them that their concerns are being heard.
CAREER GOALS - Where do you see yourself in 5 years? - What are your long term career goals?
- My goal right now is to find a position at a company where I can continue to grow and take on new challenges over time. - Ultimately, I'd like to take on more management responsibilities and get involved in product strategy. - But most importantly, I want to work for an organization where I can build a career. - I believe that Accenture provides their new hires like myself the resources and proper training to launch their career in technology - In addition, I also have a vision to give back to those especially for Women in Engineering whether it is being a mentor or teaching them the fundamentals of CS.
RESUME/ABOUT ME - Tell me about yourself - Walk me through your background and resume
- My name is Chelsea - I recently received my Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer Engineering from San José State University - I'm looking for an opportunity to challenge my technical skills and build my experience that I have developed in the courses that I have taken at SJSU...such as - Data Structures - Advanced Algorithm Design - Object Oriented Analysis - Computer Networking - Software Quality Assurance - Operating Systems In addition to that, I'm also looking for opportunities to utilize my technical background and communication skills to help bridge together business and software
2) Get Curious
- Seek to understand what is behind your client's demands. - If you understand your client's drivers you will be better able to meet their needs. - When they are questioning or critical, be aware of your own reaction and if you start feeling defensive, ask questions instead. - Focus on making sure they feel heard to build relationship trust. - If you sense a client is holding back because of fear, ask "What would help make you more comfortable with this approach?"
2) Your proposed applications of this technology in an industry of your choice PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE HEALTH INDUSTRY
- So those are the 2 core parts that make up of AI - and since I just gave you a brief overview of AI technology - I want to give you a little insight of AI technology and an idea of how it is being widely used and demanded in the Health Industry - According to the analysis performed by Accenture, AI has a high demand specifically in the health industry - That's because AI can truly augment (add greater value) human activity such as taking over tasks that range from medical imaging --> risk analysis --> and diagnosing health conditions - What AI can deliver new opportunities across a diverse set of therapy areas such as wellness and lifestyle management, diagnostics, wearables, and virtual assistants - Through analyzations, Accenture was able to put together a top 10 AI application list that displays improvements in precision, efficiency, and outcomes in healthcare - The 3 applications at the top of the list include - robot-assisted surgery ($40 billion) - virtual nursing assistance ($20 billion) - administrative workflow assistance ($18 billion) - In terms of improvement, Robot-assisted surgery it leads AI for value potential - Utilizing cognitive robots and integrating them with previous medical records can enhance the precision of the physician or discover new techniques - A company called Mazor Robotics is a medical company that makes use of AI for surgical operations allowing high degree of precision - Virtual nursing assistance can be improved with AI solutions remotely assessed a patient's symptoms and notifying clinics when patient care is needed - AI helps reduce the need for unnecessary hospital visits and lighten the burden on medical professionals - A company named Sense.ly actively uses AI to bring virtual health care to you remotely and to assess and risk, triage, or coordinate a care plan - Lastly, administrative workflow assistant capabilities can be improved by 17% for doctors and 51% for registered nurses by adopting voice-to-text transcription technology when writing chart notes, prescriptions, or ordering any tests
CHALLENGES/DIFFICULT SITUATION - Describe me about a challenge that you faced. How did you overcome it if you did? - Tell me about a time where you stepped up as a leader? - Tell me about a tough challenge you faced. How did you solve it?
- Taiwan - Senior Project Group - Github merge files on the repository
Strength Scenario #2
- Taiwan Trip - Needed to pick an idea - 3 week timeline - Communicate with one another without stepping on each other's toes but also know when to poke at each other and ask questions in order to get the tasks done and hit the milestones
TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE - How Accenture can use the latest technology to answer real business challenges
- The assessor will expect you to cover the following in your discussion: 1) A brief overview of your chosen technology 2) Your proposed applications of this technology in an industry of your choice 3) The benefits of implementing this technology for businesses in your chosen industry
1) A brief overview of your chosen technology ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) in the Health Industry
- The latest technology that I have chosen today to speak highly about and one that I believe that Accenture can continue to use to answer real business challenges is Artificial Intelligence specifically in the Health Industry - Before diving into any applications of AI used in the Health Industry, I would like to give you a brief overview of AI and explain is - To start out, AI can be a difficult concept to grasp based on that fact that it is known to be actually a collection of technologies AI is simply made up of 2 core parts that make it intelligent and incredibly powerful - Those 2 terms are: machine learning and deep learning
WEAKNESSES - What are your weaknesses? - What is something you would say that you can work on more? - What is your greatest weaknesses?
- When I look at my skill set as a whole, one thing I would like to improve right now would be data analysis - Although I understand the fundamentals, I'm pretty rusty in terms of working hands-on with since it's just a hard skill that I really didn't get the chance to go in-depth in since school - I know that these skills take time to master so by brushing up my broad skill set with the help of online resources like LinkedIn learning is a way that I'm practicing and adding these features to my personal website - This also allows me to work on one thing at a time and control what I can control which by focusing on building my knowledge and of course asking probing questions
STRENGTHS-BASED PORTION
- Will consist of a series of questions presented to you by your assessor. In this section, please be ready to discuss your experiences, be yourself and answer the questions as authentically as possible.
MANAGING A PERSONAL CONFLICT - Tell me about a time you had a disagreement with a colleague/your boss - Describe a situation where your boss was 100% wrong. What did you do?
- Working as a peer advisor for the ESSC - My director and I have a really great relationship, but just as expected, we did disagree on some things occasionally. We have found disagreeing, however, to be a positive thing, which helped us both do our jobs better and allow us to grow as individuals Situation- - In an effort to try and convert more college of engineering students to sign up for our success workshops to increase our numbers from the previous semester, my director felt that we needed to mimic the idea for the college of science marketing as they were able to attract students Task- - As a college of engineering student myself, I didn't personally think using their marketing idea will be able to grab the attention of students since their college provided different resources than our college. - The resources included tutoring services for a number of courses such as calculus and physics - After discussing the situation for a while it became apparent that maybe what we were offering during our success workshops in the past wasn't RELEVANT to make our office workshops as intriguing for students Action- - With that being said, during the shifts that I worked I asked all students who checked in for an appointment with our advisors for their feedback in what topics for workshops would they be interested in attending with their busy schedule - Many workshops included a graduation and transfer student success workshops Result- - As a result, implemented and rebranding the workshops with hands-on activities, our office saw a growth in numbers for our workshops - It also provided us some major feedback on how to improve moving forward - Overall, this discussion allowed myself and my director to achieve our goals of providing resources so students can be successful
INFLUENCING OTHERS - Tell me about a time you changed the mind of a group of people/individual - Tell me about a time where you had a different idea than your peers and you had to convince them to follow your idea. - Tell me about a time you had to persuade someone to see your side of things.
- Working as a peer advisor for the ESSC Situation - In my past position working as a peer advisor for SJSU's Engineering Student Success Center, our center followed a process each semester where we were in charge of dealing and managing all the students who were put on major or academic probation Task - The typical process was to manually keep track of each student's requirements through an excel sheet. - The requirements included signing for a success workshop hosted by an advisor or peer advisor leader such as myself, meet one on one with a professional advisor, and also attending tutoring sessions Action - I realized that managing the requirements was a lot of work on updating the spreadsheet and to ensure that all students requirements were up to date - Especially when students came in to ask to have their hold remove and the front desk couldn't verify if the student has actually completed - Therefore, I thought of an idea in which I pitched to my director that breaking up the students who were placed in academic and major probation to be split into groups and have each group finish their requirements by a specific deadline - This way it would be easy to manage and keep track of each student and have a timeline to send out any reminders Result- - Since we had been following the same process for years, I knew it would be tough to convince people to change things up. - I first vetted the idea with my other peer advisors that I work along with to get their feedback. - After speaking with them, I took my recommended my approach to my director and professional advisors in our next montly team meeting - I walked them through the changes and then the benefits, and responsibilities for each person that needed to take on - After that meeting, everyone was on board and the idea began by assigning the students to specific advisors, and creating a new spreadsheet that was easy to read, log, and modify
OTHER Why consulting? Why this firm?
- Yes, definitely a great question - What intrigues me in working in consulting is 2 main things 1) the quality of the work I'll be able to achieve 2) the high exposure to resources and getting the opportunity to ask questions to senior-level people in my career - Let me elaborate and speak little more on why each one is important ------- 1) QUALITY OF WORK - The main thing that draws me into consulting and specifically Accenture is the quality of work that the company does - I was speaking to one of my old colleagues from SJSU who works at Accenture and they told me how much work goes into each analysis and told me everything that Accenture does to ensure that the work being done is relevant to the client and that it is well-executed and presented 2) EXPOSURE TO SENIOR LEVEL PEOPLE, RESOURCES, - I envision by getting the chance to work with senior-level people and be able to pick the brains of them early in my career will give me insight on delivering high-quality work - And if I am to deliver high-quality work, it will be great to do it in projects that matter - That being said, having the opportunity to work alongside high level individuals and learn from them to elevate my craft will give me the necessary fundamentals/habits in which I will benefit in working on higher stake projects - These 2 things would make me excited and driven to wake up and perform at the highest level ---- - Lastly, as you know I got my bachelors degree in CMPE so being able to use my background knowledge to help be an effective communicator and bridge the gap between software and business
A "difficult" client ....
- should be reframed it as a challenge that will require your skill - an opportunity to deepen the relationship and build trust
7 Approaches to Transform Challenging Client Relationships 1) Talk about the relationship
1) - Set aside time to ask your client what they need for the relationship to succeed and let them know how you work best. -Set expectations for communication cadence. - Periodically check in with them to get feedback.
STRENGTHS - Why are you the best fit/candidate for this position? - Tell me why we should hire you - What separates you from other candidates? - What is your greatest strength?
1) Adaptability/Flexibility 2) Dedicated- delivering on time with the highest quality 3) Receptiveness /Curious- teachable- willing to learn- listen to other suggestions- able to receive feedback and execute/implement- ask clarifying questions to ensure the task gets done and meets the qualifications of the project and needs of the customer 4) Takes initiative - wants to learn new technologies, steps up when needed 5) Effective Communicator - being able to probe questions and perform a breadth-first search then depth-first search to figure out a solution
Accenture's 5 Business Areas
Accenture Strategy, Accenture Consulting, Accenture Digital, Accenture Technology Accenture Operations - develop and deliver integrated services and solutions for our clients.
Accenture Technology
Accenture Technology comprises two primary areas — Technology Services and Technology Innovation & Ecosystem. Technology Services includes application services — spanning systems integration and application outsourcing; intelligent platforms and services; cloud and infrastructure services; and global delivery through our Advanced Technology Centers. Technology Innovation & Ecosystem includes the R&D activities in Accenture Labs and the management of our alliance relationships across a broad range of technology providers.
CALM UNDER PRESSURE Give me an example of a decision that you made under pressure.
ESSC Lead Peer Advisor on a hiring committee - As a one of the 2 peer advisors returning for the Fall, our office needed to hire a new group of peer advisors since I was in my final semester at SJSU and that we needed more peer advisors work the front desk when I was unable to or the other leads - As one of the lead peer advisors, I was able to have a say in deciding which student(s) we would bring aboard to our team - Of course there were many factors that we looked for which included graduation date, the days/times that we needed them to work, and GPA - But most importantly we needed individuals who were passionate and committed in helping students achieve success, was trainable, and to be able to represent the college of engineering in the best way possible - We had a few candidates in mind who were solid that checked all the areas, but there was one student who matched our shift time needs for the semester to watch the front desk - There were a few red flags since the student didn't have much customer service experience except for volunteer work, but by being a lead peer advisor I believed that the student had potential and willingness to learn to be a peer advisor and ask appropriate questions - Since we needed to make a decision so that the new hires can sign HR paperwork, I took on the extra challenge and task in training the new hire in ways that I feel that they were able to learn best - With that being said, that new hire has picked up new tasks and was able to take on a higher role in leading and organizing meetings
4) Dealing with Angry Customers
One approach is to use the HEARD technique for helping customers—Hear. Empathize. Apologize. Resolve. Diagnose. This approach calms customers while providing you time to diagnose the problem and then address it.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Tell me about a challenge you had to push yourself hard to overcome
SITUATION - During my time at SJSU I have been in many difficult situations but one in particular that I what I would like to mention here is one where I needed to push myself during my senior project design - For a little background, senior project capstone was one course that every engineering student needed to pass TASK - Since I was a student from the CMPE department, our senior project format was in the form where you can decide whom to work with, choose your advisor, and pick what project and technologies you wanted to use - I began my senior project in June 2019 with 3 other team members - By taking in summer, the semester period was shorter (instead of 16 weeks, it was 6 weeks) and my team and I had to do everything with quickly such as picking our project, advisor, and delegating the roles/tasks for each milestone that including creating documentation with project requirements - This required cooperation of the whole team - Over the course of the 6 weeks, midway, one of our team members decided to drop the course due to a family emergency outside the country ACTION - Because of this instance, my team and I were in an even worse situation since not only did we have to figure out how to complete the milestones by dividing the tasks - Knowing that I needed to receive a passing grade and submit something to our advisor for our group project, I decided to overtake the work that other team member was handling which was the lead front end developer role RESULT - With proper team work and coordination we finished the project on time and also got the contract.
