I can similarly relate to Faye's situation, which is probably not too disimilar to a number of other people who have also left ACN or any of the big consulting practices. I left ACN almost five years ago (having joined as a grad) to move into a smaller organisation, where I would have a bigger say in my role, more automony and responsibility. I greatly benefited from the switched, since the safety net that the ACN heirachal structure created, meant that one could now and then be quite constrained with regards to the working practices that one would be allowed to execute. Having left, I greatly benefited from a professional perspective and within a short space of time, the scope of my role and thus experiences expanded quite significantly, beyond the usual roles (testing; IT project management; software and systems delivery role which a typical ACN analyst and consultant performs) to a role which required me to develop commercial skills by initiating and engaging senior clients in both the business and IT and thereafter manage that relationship from the initial selling and strategic discussion, to the implementation of such strategies and beyond to maintain such relationships. Such a role would not have been a possibility for a C2. This will be a scenario that many people who leave ACN, will find refreshing. Although, one would say that a lot of these opportunities is due to the ACN experience that one has, which will always be invaluble.The irony from my perspective, is that having spent the last three years outside consulting and successfully building a high tech company, I am now heading back to consulting, with my likely destination being one of the large consulting firms. Since, although, there are advantages to working in a small firm, there is no substitution for the huge number of opportunites that a global consulting firm provides along with the long term career prospects of making partner/director/VP etc.
