Hi,Just finished university, waiting for results. I have accepted an offer from ACN to start Jan 2010. Currently finding it really tough to get any sort of contract or perm work - so what should one do? continue studying (doing CIMA), go travelling or slog it out looking for contract work?Would be great to get some advice.Cheers

Go and get drunk, get laid and enjoy yourself for six months.Or, if you're really driven, set up a small business to keep busy. If it works out well you can blow off Accidenture and keep it going.Whatever you do, have some fun. Being a corporate whore takes it out of you and can be really dull at times.Best of luck.EC

Go travelling: best chance to do this you'll ever get in your life, can be done very cheaply while you won't be used to all the creature comforts (go backpacking), and it'll look good on your CV as long as you do something useful with it - learn a language, build an orphanage, solve the middle east peace crisis etc. Get a language pack on your iPod, load up a backpack and get going. Send us all an e-postcard to www.accentureareworkingmetodeathandiwanttobeastratconsultantsomedaynotsomuch.com.As a raw grad you've done the hard bit - getting the ACN offer, so take a little time out. You'll appreciate if in years to come. I didn't, and now I call myself after a chocolate bar and between talking with strat consultants in annoyingly different time zones post on this forum trying to be moderately helpful.

Evil you hit the essentials while I was still droning on: get drunk and laid is of course paramount. Not that this changes in later life of couse.

Great Advice, :-)

i worked for ACN for 3 years and enjoyed it. I would suggest you travel as when you start at ACN youll be working like mad. Take the chance while you have it...

Just graduated and starting with CAP in the fall 2009, I currently have a contract position with a FI in their shared services division. I think it depends on you personally, i know alot of pple think I am crazy for not taking time off. I hope I am not burnt out by winter 2010 though.

most of the people say the same:go out and enjoy. Its only 6 months before you start, and this economy means cheap travel.Once you start, you will be run off your feet; thats accenture.

Cheap travel? With the pound worth what it is currently and oil prices at an all-time high?

Cheap compared to what it'll cost you once you get used to the creature comforts of Holiday Inn Express for 4 nights a week.

Oil prices at an all time high? what?

Without question I would say go travelling and enjoy yourself. Ask anyone a few years into their consulting career what their main regrets are and high on the list will be not having taken a gap year when they could.One note of caution would be that it's conceivable that starting dates may be pushed back as the new-joiner dates loom larger, just depending on how the economy picks up in the coming months. I'm reflecting here on the consulting industry at large rather than ACN in particular, but I'd certainly be very surprised if some graduates didn't suffer from such angst in the coming months.If I were in your shoes I would personally go travelling to China and try to do something there that gives you exposure to learning the language (work on a charity project maybe?). Western consultants with these language skills are few and far between, so this would definitely be doing something to enhance your future employability whilst having some adventure and fun at the same time. Plus if you were to see your start date pushed back, staying on for some extra months would be a great option and would just see your language skills enhanced further.Alternatively if you'd like more of a jolly ask Accenture now to push back your start date by a few months and then take the opportunity to go and do a ski season somewhere!Anyway all the best with the decisionTony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Or test your true consultancy potential by combining the skiing, drinking and getting laid, preferably simultaneously.