Anne Marie O'Hara, Technology Consulting Manager, Accenture

Degree subject Bachelors Degree, Business Studies, University of Ulster, Postgraduate Diploma in Information Systems (University of Ulster).
Job title Technology Consulting Manager
Employer Accenture

I completed a degree in Business Studies
in the University of Ulster (Jordanstown),
graduating with first class honours in
2009. I’d always been very interested
in both business and technology, and
was eager to find an industry where
they worked together in innovative and
successful ways. As part of my degree,
I completed a 12 month internship
with Virgin Atlantic in Newark Liberty
International Airport. I also completed
a Diploma in industrial studies during
my internship. I found my internship
experience to be engaging, inspiring
and it helped me to apply the skills and
competencies I had developed in the first
and second year of my degree. I think it’s
very important for all students to get reallife
business exposure as early as possible
in their career.

When I returned to Ireland
and following my degree, I completed
a postgraduate Diploma in Information
Systems, graduating in 2010.

To be honest, consulting was never
something I thought of as a career path,
but after I made contact with Accenture
in relation to their graduate programme I
realised that this was an area which would
be very interesting and would be a real
challenge, which is what I really wanted.

Accenture is a leading global professional
services company, providing a broad range
of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and
operations. I joined Accenture in 2010, as
part of their technology consulting intake.
There were 14 people in my start group and
of course I was quite nervous at first, but I
soon realised the great support structures
and training available. I spent my first two
weeks in the Dublin Office and then spent a
further two weeks training in Chicago. The
induction and training provided me with
the skills I required when I started my first
role on client site.

When I joined Accenture I was assigned
a designated “Career Counsellor”, who
provided me with career coaching,
guidance on how to manage my career in
Accenture and also helped me to develop
professionally. Accenture really helps you
to grow and develop, this is something
that I really value. Two years after I joined
Accenture, in 2012, I was promoted to a
Technology Consultant, and three years
later, in 2015, I was promoted to my
current position as Technology Consulting
Manager.

I’m currently working on a transformation
programme within a major public
sector organisation. Truly, between my
consultancy and management roles, no
two days are ever the same and the work
is both challenging and interesting. I’m
responsible for managing a team of both
Management and Technology Consultants
and the work that they do, so good time
management and project management
is essential. One of the best aspects in
Accenture is the quality of the people you’ll
be working with. Many people say they join
for the projects, but stay for the people.
The advice I would have for students
starting out in their career is to find
something that truly inspires you and
ensure that you focus on building the skills
and core competencies that are required.