Hi All, I recently had a Grad interview for Strategy within Accenture, they have decided that i am better suited to Business Systems Integration and they have offered me a contract accordingly. I have found it hard to make the move into consultancy and, for whatever reason, this is the only offer i have so far. I have four years of successful entrepreneurial experience following graduation and would definitely describe myself as a commercial person interested in business and facilitating businesses making money. What i wanted to ask was, what career path might BSI present? Is it likely to be difficult to move into strategy or back into industry with BSI, rather than strategy experience on my CV? I am anxious that i do not want to find myslef in a career 'siding' so honestly, and without the usual Accenture bashing, should i look on this as a toe in the door of consulting which will put good, relevant experience on my CV and look to move to a 'true' strat house (or indeed back into industry) in the future or is this a dead end i'll regret in a year?Much obliged, Andy.

Hello, I have justed moved out of Acn strategy as a manager. I would strongly reccoment you NOT join BSI as this is just a glorified techology division. From BSI it will be almost impossible to move into corporate finance or strategy elsewhere. You will be instantly labelled as a 'techie' and be process driven. If i were you i would hold out for better options. Why not try somewhere else? I know EY BAS are hiring people from indstry now - and its more strategy work than Accenture ever has done.

My view is that with Accenture you'll never be far away from an IT programme anyway.I joined PW's IT grad programme in '98. I had no idea whether I'd be any good or enjoy it. I'm more of a people person and eventually reinvented myself, but in the intervening years was challenge, given responsibility, and learned a lot about business. In the end I didn't actually do much technical work.I think that Accenture is a good career move if you are prepared to work hard and spend some time in IT. It might not lead you straight into a more business-focused role elsewhere, but at elast you will have 'blue-chip experience.I'd look at it very closely versus any non-consulting offers. If you get onto a good programme in industry, that can be a good starting point too, but some firms prefer to recruit from within consulting, so you might think about ensuring that you make choices that will be popular with consulting recruiters - e.g. taking on internal consulting roles.

Hi Bob, Many thanks - that's the kind of balanced response i was hoping for. I think on balance, i will take the Accenture offer, it plugs several 'holes' on my CV (specifically blue chip and consultancy experience as you mention, but also quants skills). Much obliged, Andy.

I don't think 'never far from an IT system' is fair since ...(1) technology enables a lot of business change so however an organisation wants to change, technology could well be *an* enabler - if you're allergic to any form of IT, you're not very well positioned to help your clients when they need to change.(2) I did 2 years BSI, then moved into Strategy. I blew up my PC on my first day at a client site. I got an early promote. Technological genius is not necessary, if that's not the skill you want to build (I certainly don't).(3) However BSI is trying to get more 'deep' techie skills so the non technology related skills are best at home in the (pretty good) business consulting group.(4) You'll get a lot of headhunter calls, so there's always an out if you find yourself in the wrong placeBest of luck with the job - like any big organisation it requires a certain degree of entrepreneurialism to find the best work and best people (and there are plenty of both if you look for them).