HiI've been doing applications for Graduate jobs and I have an offer from Accenture at 55,000 (AUD), no sign-on bonus, no raise for two years, for management consulting. I also have offers from the big australian banks and an IB.The big banks are offering me around 70,000 with a 10% sign on bonus, will have reasonable working hours, no ridiculous travel and opportunities for progression.Accenture on the other hand expects significant travel, longer hours and haven't really sold the progression aspect to me. I am attracted by the fact that it is a large, international organisation and is recognised no matter where I go. I was just wondering if anyone could help me by answering any of these questions;1) Do the MBA schools take on Accenture employees? (I know it's not an MBB but is it still competitive?)2) What sort of pay jump is there after two years? I know this varies, but what is possible and realistic if I work hard and my achievements are recognised?3) Do MBB's look at experienced hires from Accenture if I later decide to take that path?Thank you, Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I have a good opinion of Accenture however they seem to expect me to dedicate my life to the job whilst being paid less than a 9-6 job...

Which IB?

You've answered your own question. Why are you even thinking about working like a slave for less money!!!All hail the accenture brand for making intelligent people even consider this sort of equation!Accenture is a perfectly fine company and could give you good training, but you are clearly better than it can afford and better than it can accommodate in its fixed career structure.Do the bank OR IB thing and in 3-4 year accenture will be headhunting you in at SC or even Manager. (if you really still want to join them)

Sorry - I'm coming back on this.If you take the acn job I'm going to fly to Oz and kick you up the billabong.

Another point of view on this..Aussie if you think for one moment your life will be easier in IB than ACN then think carefully - long (and I mean very long) hours are the norm in IB - partly due to the demands of superiors in an environment where hazing is ingrained into the culture and is repeated with relgious devotion by each intake passing through the sausage machine, partly because a macho culture prevails where being seen to work the long hours carries a weird sort of status. Depending on which part you go into you can expect to be worked beyond what you currently think is either reasonable, acceptable or possible. Second, finance roles are very specialised, and increasingly so - you can expect to be doing a job in finance in a few years which might not even exist, and more importantly which requires you become an expert in one element of a process at the expense of learning anything else. 100,000 people have lost their jobs in banking since 2007 or so the estimates tell us, and many of those struggle to return because their skills are simply not transferable. Great when you are in demand, but when that skill becomes redundant you will discover why bankers become so money obsessed - because they have the (professional) lifespan of a supermarket sandwich if they are in the wrong product or market and need to make enough to get out quickly.Thirdly, many bankers leave the industry for the sole reason it's a factory - albeit a well paid one - which neither develops you as an individual nor offers any opportunity to influence your environment, work or results. Same as consulting you may say, but unlike consulting this remains true until your reach some very elevated levels in banking. But - and this is a big but - the IB offer still outranks the ACN one, and not for the money, the hours, progression or anything else which is tangible. It outranks the ACN offer for the sole reason that getting into IB is still one of the most competitive offers you can achieve -getting into JPM, Deutsche or Goldman really isnt that much different than getting an offer from MBB. Just showing you can get in and hack it - and then leave - will underline to potential employers in the future just what you are capable of. That's why you should take the IB.

How about UBS?I am currently an A2 with Accenture and am on track for promotion (partner spilt out the rating results to convince me to stay) in September to a C1. Job is alright but at times I do wonder if the work carried out really does add value because they dont seem challenging, but tedious! I mean, all you really do is coordinate and make calls to get answers..and relay them back to management.I recently received an official offer from UBS - I knew that they had been interested since early April but wasnt in a position to make me an official offer because of changes in their hiring process (requisitions for new hires to be reviewed by layers and layers of CIOs,CEOs,etc) - HR had been contacting me every week to ensure that I was still interested. I've been offered a 57k package as an AO, and have tried to resign my current position. Not surprisingly, my line manager and the partner in my company wanted me to stay, and have told me it was a bad career move. Accenture will only offer 45k upon my promotion. The partner is also the client account lead for UBS - he told me that he has been working for UBS as a client through Accenture for 13 years. I honestly don't know if he's being honest, or if he's just saying it!Does anyone know how long it normally takes for an AO to be an AD, and how do promotions/moving up the payscale go about in UBS in London?

Also, prior to joining Accenture, I've got 1 year experience as a network engineer in a telecomms company (in South East Asia, where I am from), and 1.5 years as a research engineer in a small computer consultancy(in London). I believe I made a big mistake by joining Accenture as an Analyst in 2010 - why do banks/consultancies only recognize the skills gained in Accenture, and not the ones before?