Hi,I am a July 2008 graduate, having attained a 2.1 in Law with Management Studies from the Uni of Sussex, and I am trying to get into consultancy. My plan is to start in a role September/October of this year.Having applied to and narrowly missed out on the big4 and the bigger firms I have been applying to smaller firms. However, the general response here is that I don't have any relevant experience. I am doing everything I can to try and gain an internship/work experience placement with a firm to gain some experience, with the aim of potentially securing a position for September.My question is would anyone here be able to point me in the right direction/help out?Thanks in advance for any advice, James.

Scrape together whatever money you might have, travel round the world and find yourself. If you don't have that much money, get jobs while travelling. If you still want to be a consultant come back in 2 years time when the economy might have started to turn.

Never gonna happen this year James. First, there are very few graduate jobs. And second the competition is ridiculous. Even if you had a 2.1 in Economics and Management from Oxford you'd struggle in this climate, especially without any relevant experience. University of sussex is not first tier, and places for consulting will be uber competitive this autumn for starting in 2010. You will need at least the 9-12 months until the next recruitment round to beef up your cv if you want to compete. Personally I wouldnt bother, go into industry and then come back into consulting in 2 years. I think that you may struggle to break into consulting at entry level for the next few years..

its certainly going to be tough. In tough economic climates, hiring managers are looking for ppl who have proven experince. They dont really want to take the risks on new grads not knowing how they will perform...You might have to try the smaller outfits ( since you have already been rejected by the big 4), and show an eagerness to learn the ropes ( and dont be against doing a bit opf grunt work - number cruching, assisting in ppt sales etc)...i always found the first job the toughest: a real catch 22- cant get a job without experience, cant get experience without a job either. Keep trying , some smaller entities will eventually give you a chance.

Thanks very much guys, I have been in contact with a number of smaller firms and have some potential leads there for internship/work experience. Hopefully to buff up the Cv and show that I am very keen and eager!Any smaller firms anyone could recommend?