Folks,Please dont shoot me down, but I need some advice.I joined the machine that is known as ACN after my Masters program, back in 07 and was pigeon holed into the SAP Practice as an A1.Having gone thorugh a few health related difficulties at the time, I was effectively told to go through the Redundancy Program for speaking out against the business and due to ACN not willing to give time out due to health reasons. I chose the VR route as opposed to taking ACN to an ET under Employment Regulations and as it was a life/death situation requiring surgery.This was at the start of the recession back in September 08 and since then I have had barely any work and the bulk of my experience was more as an A1/A2 - not technical but SAP nonetheless.Being sick to death of shoddy recruitment firms and the usual 'No Budget', 'Role not signed off', 'Had to put the role on hold' I am now thinking of re-applying for different consulting schemes - Grad (or Direct entry) on a more Management Consulting/CRM type route - Target Operating Model, BPR, Process Design etc...The trouble is trying to shake off the SAP Banner (which I can do by keeping the experience gained at ACN generic) and who to apply to - I was thinking of PA but I hear things are bad, I heard the BT scheme is good but it is closed for this year.I am just after some advice if anyone can help... I could probably stick with SAP but the work isnt that great and unless you have 6 or 7 lifecycles realistically you do not stand much of a chance.I am 18 months on and at the point sick of recruiters chatting nonesense and I am trying to save my career and life going down the pan!Please help...Squibbles.P.S If anyone is able to give some advice on 'Customer Systems' this is also a place I have been thinking of applying too.

Hi Squibbles,It's unfortunate that you've been on the job market for 18 months now. It does seem like a long time, but given the prevailing market conditions at least you know you're not alone. I underwent a CR earlier this year and only recently managed to secure an interim role contracting. Although it may not be in consulting, it plugs any holes in my CV, pays the bills, and keeps me from staring at my belly button all day.I suggest keeping an open mind on roles that are on offer. Given you left Accenture as an A1/A2, it's hard to market any deep skills, but if you have SAP skills consider talking it up - it may get you a foot in the door after which you can always move across to an area you want.But after 18 months I'd try and focus on plugging that gap in your CV with some form of relevant job experience. I wouldn't be too picky as any form of job experience is better than coming across as being idle. Be sure you're ready to answer the common interview question - "what have you been doing since you left your last job".Another suggestion would be undertaken some formal qualifications in the areas your looking to move into. You can try out the grad schemes, but there doesn't seem to much movement in recruitement within consulting. I'm guessing at least another 6 months before any signs of recruitement activity.

Why are you so sure you want to stay in consulting - doesn't seem to have worked out that well for you so far, plus the market is bad. Why not do something else, anything else in fact. There are a lot more jobs out there than consulting - could you get a job at a startup, train as a chef, get a job as a holiday rep in ibiza - anything has got to be better than sitting around banging your head against a brick wall looking for a consulting job?

I agree with ex-enture, the best thing you could do now is to get some current experience on your CV so that the 18 months off work ceases to be the focal point of your CV.Personally I would try to see what contracting work you can secure as the lead-time for getting such work is much shorter and this may give you the opportunity to impress a consulting firm or employer from whom you could then seek to secure a permanent position.Taking this one step further, I would even consider targeting the 5 or 10 firms you&apos;d most like to join and seeing if you can secure an internship with them. Whilst this would probably be unpaid, again the chance to impress and then land a permanent role could leave you better off than applying for roles for another 3 months and getting nowhere.Alternatively (and I say this quite seriously), I would consider going to do a ski season or somesuchlike for a few months, to put a smile back on your face and renew your enthusiasm. You&apos;d then be returning to the job-hunt at a time when things are more buoyant than they are now and so with a greater chance of a successful outcome.Hope this helps and good luckTony Restell<a href=http://events.top-consultant.com/UK/careerconference.aspx?ID=421>Your career at a crossroads – which way next?</a>