Pros
Avanade has very good benefits. The 401k offers excellent fund choices, and the 3% match (received after a year) vests immediately. Their health plan is great and very cheap! Avanade has a minimum amount of training required every year, and they actually have funds to accommodate this. The company also provides vouchers for Microsoft exams. Avanade provides $2000 a year as a sort of tech fund, which is great. The company also provides a company cell phone plan (although data is paid by the employee if below manager level).
Cons
Unfortunately, the positives of Avanade cannot outweigh the fact that most of the company's assignments are terrible. I use the term "assignment" rather than "project" because most of the work is not even project-based. Much of Avanade's work is filling roles within Accenture accounts, or even staff aug for Avanade's own clients. True to consulting, the sales folks do not care if the work is something that will keep consultants engaged or happy, or help consultants advance their careers. Most assignments are far from leading edge. If the client likes you, it's possible to get stuck on such a dead-end assignment for years! If you are lucky enough to get on a direct Avanade engagement (i.e. not owned by Accenture), then your chance at a promotion will increase significantly. However, you will also get to experience Avanade's terrible project delivery. Account managers have little to do with the delivery side, and thus there is often a giant disconnect between expectations and what is actually delivered. The heavy travel requirements may be a negative to some, but I actually very much enjoyed that aspect of the job, especially the free vacations that can be had with the many airline and hotel points. However, being away from home 4 days a week is certainly not for everyone. Career managers are hit or miss. My own career manager was actually quite good, but most are not so lucky. At the end of the day, though, while your career manager can be essential to advocate for you during the yearly review, they really have very little influence on your daily work or your job satisfaction. Compensation is below industry average.
