Hi all - apologies for yet another "career fork ahead" thread.I have recently received two offers for fairly equivalent IT consultant roles. One as a C3 at ACN, one as a Consultant at D.I am having to make a decision in the next few days and have drawn up a list of personal pros/cons for both. [u][b]ACN[/b][/u]Pros: Bigger package (~20%); stronger IT consulting brand; higher band that I will be brought in atCons: Unsure about the culture - listed, American company; more technology focused work; less scope to move away from IT; potentially less variety of work[u][b]D[/b][/u]Pros: Partnership run from the UK; closer work with the teams outside of pure IT; potential to work with other technologies and expand beyond IT; better work/life integration (yes integration, not balance)Cons: Smaller overall package; weaker tech consulting brand; Consultant level offer - may be seen as a career step backI would appreciate any insights/suggestions/advice that you may have - I am somewhat struggling to make a decision.........S

Well C3 at ACN is close to Manager level, maybe 1-2 years away.Consultant at Deloitte is like C1/C2 at Acn, and you'd need to go through to Senior Consultant, and then Manager, so you're 4-5 years away from Manager with Deloitte.From a short-term earnings perspective, the choice is clear. For a long term perspective, a Partnership model will always be more profitable.

Thanks abc.That is the dilemma that I am faced with at the moment... From a short term perspective, the extra 20% is a significant amount. From the long term, I think that the D route is more likely to fulfill my career wants.And I know, I know, "always remember the long term". And if the difference was half of that, there would be no discussion.So I am hoping that someone highlights something that I might have missed on my pros/cons list... Something OBVIOUS.

There's a significant difference in responsibility between a C3 at Accenture and a Consultant at Deloitte. Remember that a Consultant is an automatic promotion from Analyst after 2 years of joining post-graduation.If it was me, Acn seems liket he better option.

ACN. This is a five year decision, absolutely max. You're way too far away from partner to make the ownership structure sway your decision.Take the extra money, play a blinder at acn and in five years you can move to one of the partnership firms as a proven asset if you feel it is necessary.

Just do what everyone else seems to and go to Accenture until senior manager to enjoy higher earnings then move to Big 4 for the longer term earnings as a partner, which at Accenture are not fantastic.

I was going to suggest you join us at Accenture but your doe-like unwillingness / incapacity to man-the-sod-up and make a decision makes me think we'd eat you alive....

Heh.So how would you go about, just take a wild punt and hope it's a punt in the right direction?

Smithy, I think you'll find the full ACN process is...Collate all valuable work produced by in- house resources, other consultancies, etcSubmit a bid to take over ALL that work at half the budgetTake a wild punt in any directionWorks pretty well....

That's the reservation I have........

Accenture is big, powerful and sexy. We are simply unbeatable in terms of brand equity on your CV, our global reach and our unapologetic way of getting things done. If you don't like us, you don't really know us. Come dance with the devil!

+ 1 to Arby.I guess we dont need to sell Accenture here..@smithy-You are lucky to get a 20% higher salary in Acn than D to start off, so be happy and join Acn. My experience is, its pure luck for you and necessity from the companies perspective that determines what salary and role they offer you..so if you have been offered a C3 in Acn and much lower level in D, then that means Acn values your skills more...(at the moment)there r lot of Pros to join Acn..and the Cons will be exactly same at D...!Dont think too much about partner model..because thats many years away for you based on the level you are joining..from C level at D...you will take another 3-4 years minimum to become a Manager..then another 3-4 years to become SM...and after that if you still have some life left in you..you may not be interested in continuing in any consultancy firm...

Thanks guys. It's been quite a surprising set of replies actually.... I thought that there would be a more balanced view.