Hi Guys,I am a recent graduate and need to know more about Deloitte's 5 service-lines within consulting...please help if you can!As you may or may not know, they are:(1) Human Capital(2) Enterprise Applications(3) Strategy(4) Technology Integration(5) Operations(I have looked at Deloitte’s website for descriptions - but I would like to hear from people who have had experience at graduate level or are currently within these service lines at graduate level)-------------------------------------------I have three questions:(i) The one question I wish to know MOST is….is EA/TI really just IT consulting?? Would taking on such a servuce-line define me as an IT MC from now on? and even hinder me from to moving to strategy houses later on? i.e. what is the difference between EA/TI and IT Consulting, if there is any? (The reason I say this is because Deloitte are only receiving applications for EA/TI at the moment for September 2008 – so I wish to know how this would define my MC career compared to choosing their strategy service-line)(ii) I also really want to know more about each of these service lines - from the perspective of people who work or have worked in Deloitte, at analyst level, within **any** of these 5 divisions:(a) Culture(b) Experience & qualifications gained(c) Speed of career progression(d) Exit options and so on.(iii) Finally, how are the different service lines viewed within the firm, i.e. do any have a higher prestige/receive more attention from within the firm/better graduate experience gained?-------------------------------------------Sorry if that seemed long, I just really need to know!Your help on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated!Many Thanks in advance guys :)

Hi,I'm ex-Deloitte. Joined the grad programme in 2004 in the EA group, and spent my final year with the supply chain team within Operations.EA: I didn't have much interest in tech/ERP systems, but similair to you, at the time of applying the only choices were EA/TI. EA is not as 'techy' as TI. Most of the people didn't have deep technology skills in my time, but they had a good understanding of the business processes and how ERP systems could support/improve these.I found that EA had some very nice people, but I personally found it a bit cliquey. This may be because I didn't see my long term interest as being in this area and therefore didn't network extensively/socialise with people from EA.Operations: After 2 years, I moved to Supply Chain within Operations. At Analyst level, moving between the 5 areas of Consulting is entriely possible. Generally you need to have had some exposure to a project run by the area which you wish to move to. For example, I spent 3 months working on a Sourcing and Procurement project which paved the way for my move to Supply Chain.I found Operations a great place to work. The Supply Chain team is very friendly, great colleagues and a good community feeling.To summarise, your time as an Analyst will not see you pinned down in one area. For example, although I joined in EA, I worked on Strategy projects, technology projects, benchmarking projects, supply chain projects etc. You have the flexibility to try your hand in a numbe of areas, as you will not be responsible for deliverables.I personally believe that Operations and Suipply Chain in particular was seen as the strength of Deloitte's Consulting arm, but this is just my personal opinion. Hope this helps

East Enda - thanks for the info - that has been a great help!I do really want to work for Deloite Consulting but wasn't sure about being defined as EA/TI for my entire career...so knowing there is movement at analyst level is great to hear! I think it owuld be operations or strategy for myself if I was given the opportunity...May I ask how I would be best to go about working for different areas during my time? Any tips on how to do this?Also, may I ask what you do now after leaving Deloitte - just trying to get a picture of exit options, if that where to become a consideration years down the line for me...Thanks again in advance :)

What is being said her is completely false. If you aren't in the strategy group, you will VERY LIKELY NOT be doing strategy work. It's like that at Deloitte or Accenture's Management Consulting group. Everybody wants to be in business and strategy consulting. If you aren't hired in these groups, you will not enjoy your first 2 years unless you network like hell, get connections, ignore HR, and try to get a transfer. If you want to do management consulting, you need to get hired into that group. As much as others would like to claim that they are doing it and publicize it in this forum to feel good about themselves, it is simply untrue for 95% of people unless they are in the group.

ANON is telling the truth.

I can confirm Anons statement. I dont want to be rude Enda, but just taking a simple role as "assistant" in a strategy/SCM project doesnt make you a member of this group. Did they respect you of your knowledge or were you just used by them and didnt receive any credit?JJ, if you truly want to start a career within strategy my advice to you is that not to get involved with IT/TI at all!! On paper, you'll just remain as a tech guy.

ok, cheers guys. I was surprised to hear how easy movement was..so your insights are more of what I expected. I am keen to start off my career in the right direction from the outset - to give me the best prospects as a MC and also show a clear focus from the start. I think I will hold off on this one and apply for strategy when I can! Many thanks for your help Anon and John!

Fair comments by all, and useful for the original poster to have a different perspective.I suppose my point is particular to myself, and I did get the opportunity (as others do) to work in Operations even though I was in EA. I'm not sure how easy it is to get in to Strategy from EA/TI as I did not have an interest in this direction.The key point is that as an Analyst you come in fresh with little/no experience/knowledge of Consulting/Industry, and analyst's play an important role on projects but are not relied upon for expertise. Therefore this grade has more flexibility and if you express a preference you can get opportunities on projects.You are right in that networking is important, but even more so, it's being aware. For example, knowing that Operations has a Supply Chain 'Affinity Group' for junior grades in other service lines who have an interest in working in Supply Chain.How this relates to Strategy I'm not in the best position to say, but I can assure you that moving from EA/TI to Operations is possible.