Accenture joins Hanken partner programme
“We hope this cooperation will help us meet interested, inspired and motivated students who could potentially be our colleagues in the future,” says Nina Pyykkönen, Management Consultant at Accenture.
Accenture, an Irish-US consulting firm, has more than 720,000 employees worldwide and around 1,000 in Finland. The company’s projects are mainly related to IT and technology, and its clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100 companies.
Nina Pyykkönen, a Hanken alumna, works with strategy and consulting related to consumer goods. She mainly deals with company leadership teams, creating models for the circular economy and future-proofing operations, among other things.
“Accenture wasn’t all that familiar to me as a student. I thought it was just a technology company. We hope to gain more visibility through the Hanken partner programme and show that we are a relevant option for Hanken students, as well,” says Pyykkönen.
The language aspect is also of interest to Accenture.
“Even though our working language is English, Swedish is perhaps more important than ever because of the global geopolitical situation. Being able to easily join Nordic projects is an advantage.”
The cooperation with Accenture is most relevant to master’s students, as for instance the internships are specifically aimed at them. Accenture organizes admissions for analysts and interns twice a year.
“Hanken provides excellent skills for consultants. Your major subject isn’t all that important, but skills such as teamwork are essential in consulting – we do everything in teams here. You also need a sense of curiosity and eagerness to learn, but internal training and support from more experienced colleagues will help you with everything else.”
Accenture is happy to provide students with tips and advice for starting their career. Students also have the opportunity to complete their master’s thesis in one of the company’s projects.
Future challenges in the sector include sustainability issues, as well as technological development.
“Whether we are talking about cloud services, blockchains or 5G, they are bound to affect everybody’s lives and the companies we work with.”