Accenture

If you are staffed to a good team, you'll learn a lot very quickly. In my case, there were many hands-on learning opportunities, and I wouldn't trade that for anything despite the cons listed below.

I got to work from home, which is a privilege not given to most entry-level developers. I also had a manager who actually cared about "people development."

Ironically, this mentoring and professional development made me realize how marketable I'd become. You can change careers without changing companies, since there are so many types of work done at Accenture, from consulting to software. The company's name looks great on your resume, and they offer great discount programs (cell service, MS Office, entertainment, etc).

The project-based nature can lead to turnover of your manager, scrum leader, or supervisor when you least expect it. The pay is terrible for entry-level; think people getting 25%+ raises going elsewhere in Chicago with just a BS in CS. If you have to travel a lot to client sites, the pay looks even worse as the miles on YOUR car rack up. It's unclear what could be done to earn a promotion and/or increase in compensation, despite a career counselor going straight to HR. They stonewalled or gave a non-answer. Pay for performance is fine when you can tell how you're being measured. It's not so great otherwise.

My career counselor flat out said they know that recruiters treat Accenture like a farm team. The thing is, the bean counters seem to think this is a good model: get people right out of school who don't know what they're worth, pay them low, then they leave for the next wave. If you want your "best people" to stick around, try giving them a reason not to jump ship when area recruiters flat out say, "We look for Accenture employees since we know this is what happens." Being on a great team makes going to work not a drag, but it doesn't do anything about rent increases, student loans, or car payments.