Hi,I am offer for a Senior Manager (Banking consultning) from EY in London-UK and also from Acceture in Melbourne-Australia. Location wise both the places would be new for me. EY is a bigger brand but Accenture is no less. I am so confused although I would agree it is a nice problem to be in!Financial offer wise both are alike although Accenture is a few percentage above EY.If I consider the career aspect I think I am better with EY in London as it would be much more fast paced and more exposure. Australia work style may not be as aggressive as London and hence may offer less learning. I am in the mid 30s in age and willing to hop n learn more before I decide to slow down.Lifestyle wise I am more inclined to Australia as it certainly has better weather than London and also I can think of buying property and car and settling there for good.As it stands now, I am more inclined to EY-London as London is a nice place and EY brand and experience in London will be a great asset on my CV. I can think of other places may be 5-6 years down the line.I have a small family, wife is okay with either and my daughter is too young to speak :-)Thoroughly confused, thoughts please.Cheers

If both offers are for FSI then you have to be in London - period. Australia will still be a post-London option, but Australia to London (especially in FS) will be a very difficult move to make. Depending on the project you could complete a London stint in 2 - 3 years, half what you are thinking, and convincingly move as a Director level hire down under. On the basis of EY v Accenture, if this is FSI, then EY wins hands down. They simply have the pedigree in FS. The flow of business is still in favour of London, and most major projects within banking (especially those with a global footprint) will be directed from London.

Hi jini,As Mars said, EY London is definitely the right choice career wise. There is no doubt (especially in FS/Banking) London experience will help your CV and allow you to secure a great offer should you decide to move to Australia later. That being said, if family were your top priority and were not willing to compromise on seeing your daughter grow, Australia is the option. I've worked in both countries and the standard of living, pace and lifestyle are certainly more suited towards raising a family. If you take this option, you'll just have to accept not working at the cutting edge of the industry (though still make a decent wage as you see).

@marsday : Thanks for confirming my thoughts. I think I am going to close on EY London.

@mb88 : Brilliant insight on both the sides of the coin especially since you have lived in both the places. Thank you. I did consider balancing career and family and now I can do so with more information. I am willing to invest a lot in my career at this stage and at the same time do not want to compromise my daughter's upbringing. I think I can achieve both of these in London although I agree family lifestyle may have to take the rear seat for a couple of years but I will take the opportunity of fixing that in the future.Thanks again for helping me decide.

[quote]@mb88 : Brilliant insight on both the sides of the coin especially since you have lived in both the places. Thank you. I did consider balancing career and family and now I can do so with more information. I am willing to invest a lot in my career at this stage and at the same time do not want to compromise my daughter's upbringing. I think I can achieve both of these in London although I agree family lifestyle may have to take the rear seat for a couple of years but I will take the opportunity of fixing that in the future.Thanks again for helping me decide.[/quote]Have you factored in the potential cost of private schooling in London? Or have you found somewhere you might live that would provide something satisfactory?

Yeah, u don't wanna use a state school in London. They're like something off of "Grange Hill".

[quote]Have you factored in the potential cost of private schooling in London? Or have you found somewhere you might live that would provide something satisfactory?[/quote]@president: yes I did some initial fact finding and have got to a conclusion that both house and school expense are more or less same in the two cities. So even though it is an important factor, it doesn't make me tend more to either.

[quote]Yeah, u don't wanna use a state school in London. They're like something off of "Grange Hill".[/quote]I don't know any colleagues who do! This is why I live in the North...