ACN is a good firm to start your career in and I think they do some good mgmt consulting work in the region. However, by the firm's very nature, expect to be involved in technology related work even if you enter management consulting. Choosing the right team to join is most important. But unfortunately a lot of people join because of company brand while they don't really know what their job scope is and end up complaining non-stop.

A strong positive point is their clientele. Expect to work with leading oil & gas, telcos and fortune 500 companies. Something the audit big 4 can rarely achieve and something which a lot of people take for granted.

Accenture definitely ranks up there in terms of operational consulting and I think they're on par or better than ATK in this sense. But in terms of strategy consulting they're still second tier like Booz and ADL. Quite a way to go to compete with the MBBs.

Yep..I'm in MC

FYI. Arthur D Little has closed down in MY. I hear they've not been doing well regionally. Most of their guys have joined Roland Berger, a german strategy firm.
Another local boutique consulting company that is rapidly growing is Ethos. They have some good talent in there (ex-McK guys)
Bain isn't here yet but they're on their way.

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Added on February 12, 2012, 7:09 pmACN is still hiring selectively (I know cos I'm there but on my way out of the firm). Just a word of advice for the freshies, make sure you know what you're getting yoursleves into and make sure you know what the role you're applying for entails. For e.g. if you're applying for a HR consulting role, research more and find out what the career progression opportunities are. Don't expect to join HR consulting and then be disappointed you're not doing strategy consulting. There are quite a number of different teams in ACN's mgmt consulting wing and transferring internally between them is not usually an easy process.

This post has been edited by xplodingbomb: Feb 12 2012, 07:09 PM

You're obviously still fresh off the boat and you have to realise that what you read in the textbooks is obviously different to reality.
You are right that Malaysia has a structural problem and this is primarily because of the fact that we continue to suppress the real price of goods and services through subsidies and dependence on foreign labour.
The reason why MNC firms pay what they do in Malaysia is because it is reflective of the margins they can earn. Even though they are termed 'multinationals', most local offices have their own org structures, KPIs and financial metrics to achieve. You'd rarely see the Singapore office of a company subsidising that of another country. MNC partnerships can afford to do this, but how many are there left in the world.

In terms of supply of skilled labour, I'd actually say that Malaysia has sufficient supply, but too few jobs. Count how many Malaysian professionals are working in Singapore, London and HK. Bear in mind that when working overseas, there are glass barriers if you're Malaysian which is why many eventually return. At that point, everyone is forced to take a paycut. Good luck getting a job outside of Malaysia, but don't think the generations before you haven't already thought of your simple logic. The only ones who have it easy are the select few who transfer from top ibanks or MBBs. Based on what I've read I don't think you're ready for any.

Back to the thread, if you join ACN as a mgmt consultant, try get on the international assignments cos that is where the allowances (ie. $$) come into play.