Good Evening Board MembersI've been with a major oil firm for about a year now, most of which time has been spent working on a very large business transformation project. I had planned to spend another 2 years or so here and then use the oil industry experience to move into strategy consulting. However, given that the consulting industry is booming at the moment I'm starting to wonder if I should bring the plan forward and move now. Obviously one year worth of industry experience doesn't add up to much but I'm concerned that if I wait another two years I may be caught in another industry trough.I wonder if the board has any thoughts on when would be an optimal time to move or even whether getting, 'industry experience' is viewed favourably by the good consulting firms. For what it's worth, after a recent payrise, I am now making £38k + £4k bonus - oil industry too in the midst of a boom :) I presume that moving now would entail a salary cut?

Do you mind if I ask your age and background. I'm in the opposite situation, i'm at a consulting firm (for about a year now)doing strategy work earning £30k plus bonus but wanting to move into the oil industry...Also what is your current role

Rick,A couple of thoughts - now is a goog time to move into consultancy, particularly as the strategy consultancy companies are nearly all hiring. Leacing it two years to make a move could mean you miss out on some interesting opportunities.On the salary issue, you should not need to take a pay cut - quite the opposite - consultancy generally pays significantly more than industry.

Hi,I'm late 20s and have BA & Masters (Humanities) from Oxford and a BA from abroad. This is my first job since graduating.I don't want to be too specific (I have a feeling that some of my colleagues read this board) but I'm working in a Downstream role supporting a business change project revolving around the implementation of SAP.

Many thanks for your reply. Are you on a grad training programme/scheme?