Gents,- I applied for VR during last round and it got rejected coz I was 100% chargable with Above ratings.- Since last round I have been on bench i.e. for approx 5 months by now, what are my chances for getting in the list for CR this time round? If I am not in the list of CR and should they give the opportunity to apply for VR, what are my chances for my VR being accepted?- Are there any jobs in the market on Manager/Senior Manager level? I hate having a gap on my CV showing unemployed for more than 2-3 months. Do you think 2-3 months is sufficient? - Currently on £100K package, how much I should expect in current economic schenario? I am willing to compromise on salary hoping when economy will pick up next year, I will get the desired package however, I might be forced to compromise on the designation/level if there aren't many jobs in market. What impact it will have on my carreer progression for example currently on senoir manager ( year 1 on level) and taking a job of M3- M2 level etc. I am desperate to get out of ACN provided the VR package is the same as it was last time round. Only genuine advise please.Thanks for your time for reading this through.Regds

anon's situation is absolutely similar to mine's, so genuine advice highly appreciate.

Last year I was on the job market, was inundated with interviews and secured my dream job.A month ago I was made redundant. Have applied for 3 times as many jobs as last year but have not had a single interview.At least if you are on the ACN bench you are being paid and you can claim to be employed.

the average unemployment time is about 3 months. This has gone a bit higher to 4 months due to economic conditions.Being on the bench for that long, i am surprised they havnt gotten rid of you already. If i were you, i would think about going out on your own accord onstead of them giving you a package to walk.There will always be jobs for sr managers. And the acn brand carries some value here also. The key is to network at your level with trusted ppl.As for salary, they generally dont waiver much from market at the sr mgr level ( as opposed to graduate level when they definately will take advantage of market conditions), so with your experience and acn brand name, you should be ok.

Don't panic OP; in the the current market no none will judge you if you have a 3 - 4 month gap - everyone knows it's tough and no matter how good you are, it takes time to identify opportunities and the hiring decision is slower. As for taking a step down, this is actually very hard to quantify on a CV: titles between MC firms often don;t directly correlate anway, and if there is a good enough reason you can take a step down and it actually looks like a step up - for example moving from ACN into a niche player you may come in at Manager grade with a view to promotion once blooded on some projects and this would be very much in line with how the market operates.Ernst is quite right though - get networking to try and line up some options. Despite all the gloom in the press, there is still plenty of hiring in the market. Time it right and you could take VR and have something lined up to walk into with a nice pay off from ACN to go quietly!

If you are an M3/M4 at ACN at the moment and have been on the bench for 5 months you will be going !I would imagine there may be an element of VR as the consultation period for CR may make it too time consuming.I would wait, apply for VR and leave. Or wait to get told you have been targetted.The package for VR and CR will be the same but it is unlikely to be the same as the previous round, Expect it to be less favourable.The reason for this is that tyhe 2nd round is about really reducing costs so there is less of a pot for payouts.

In a similar situation. Was a junior manager with a tier 1 strategy firm. I am getting interviews for jobs with ~10% less salary in the industy. I am happy to go for that. It is a very difficult market for strategy consulting.However, you should have it easier if you are experience is more related to operational improvement / turnaround. See a lot of jobs of that nature.I would advice that - in this market you are better off doing contracting for some time before you figure our your best move. you can expect ~£1000 per day. so will pay you more and will allow you the felxibility to look for a dream job without having to jump into something straight away. For me, opportunities in this area is a bit limited - strategy is very much a bull market phenomenon.

How much were the packages for VR and CR last year? We just received this update which says it's 1.5 weeks for every year worked?!?

I'd think it's more than that as they'll never get their target number otherwise.Also, you shuldn't really be posting that kind of info. on a public forum.

So, are you saying that it's 1.5 weeks or not? If it's not 1.5 weeks, then it's just speculation and there's no problem with posting it here.It sounds to me like it is 1.5 weeks, which is consistent with previous downturns where the payoff gets less generous over successive rounds of redundancy.

You are not paying attention: They haven't proposed a package for this round yet...those figures are just notes from the October meetings, not what they have decided for this round. They don't even set the actual terms from last time out in that document. The only thing that looks certain at this point is they will still offer VR.

1.5 weeks for each year of service is the minimum legal entitlement...does not sound like a great offer to me...

We will find out the package after the Friday afternoon meeting.

Which will be communicated on Monday I expect so a weekend of not knowing - little bit frustrating

I got a month a year

From what I saw, it is going to be a measly 1.5 weeks per full year

Guys, wait for the emails. The one we just recieved shows that it is much more than that.

gents, how to ensure my vr applications gets accepted this time? I am M1 and on bench from last 4 months...

It's a competition and you've passed the first test by being on the bench for a long time. However, so have lots of other people applying for VR. To win the next test and distinguish yourself, you need to make sure you're the most intolerable asshat to the people you work with, especially SE's. Behave as if you're really looking forward to leaving behind your co-workers and they'll be more likely oblige your VR wish. Worst case, you get to have fun taking the mickey, and still get to be canned at the CR round.

Do you know what they'll be looking at for CR? I am now staffed until end of year but current annual chargeability at mid 60s as I spent a few months on the bench before xmas, so not that great... Do they look at future or past? Will they also look at past years chargeability? thanks

Primarily, CR selection is driven by <b>expected future sales</b> for the group. If ACN doesn&apos;t expect to sell any work that the group can deliver, they are likely to close it and make redundancies regardless of the group&apos;s past performance. However, on top of this you have to layer <b>hot skills</b> which can be utilised elsewhere within ACN - people with these skills will be offered redeployment rather than redundancy. Thirdly, <b>individual performance</b> (one indicator of which is chargeability) is considered - individuals with the lowest ratings in the most recent performance period are likely to be made redundant first.The order in which these criteria are applied is important. Someone with a high performance rating who sits in an "unfashionable" group is likely to be made redundant before someone with a low rating who sits in a "hot" group.

All you M&apos;s and SM&apos;s out there that want to leave - I&apos;m an analyst with 2 years experience. I&apos;m concerend about applying for the VR as I only have 2 yrs on my CV and most jobs seem to be for very experienced people only right now.Is it that bad as you progress through the firm or have you just had bad experiences? I&apos;m not doing SI&T work incidentally.