Help everyone!I've so far been turned down by BCG, McK and OW, and am waiting to hear from everyone else - but it's looking increasingly likely that I'm just not going to get a job in MC. I'm a few years out of uni already, so I really need to make this decision count - so what other jobs can I do?I want something that challenging and has variety, and also that can leave me with some exit options too. For that reason, I'm not too keen on supermarket/high street bank jobs, as I don't want to work in retail shops, more in central operations. But what can I do? I'm really worried, I feel like if I don't get a job this round, it's going to be really hard for me to get one next year - not least cos I can't really wait another two years before starting my career (am already 3 years out of uni) - so I need to make this decision count, but I don't know what to do!

I'm completely in the same boat, and think the best thing to do is work in industry for 3 or 4 years, and then go for an MBA. But what grad schemes are best for getting you on to an MBA? No point going to Aldi grad scheme if they only thing you can do for the rest of your life is work at Aldi... does anyone know of a good, broad grad scheme outside of MC???

If you want anyone to help on this forum, you might want to start by giving a bit of background to your profile... For all we know you could have an HND in needlework and work experience in Dixons....

There are plenty of well regarded graduate programmes in that would enable you to move into consulting later, probably in conjunction with a top MBA if you want MBB. The challenge is that you need to pick a sector you are interested in now, rather than deferring that by spending the first few years of your career as a generalist. My advice would be to pick a sector that you are interested in and look at the graduate programmes available, it is hard to advise without knowing what interests you, but in general big, well known, financially robust multinational companies are probably the best bet. Think big oil, pharma, FMCG; GE famously operate a great grad programme, and are renowned for exporting talent.

Went to Oxford, got a 1st in English, and have then worked in the arts industry for a few years. Lots of good professional experience, but not quantative per se, so maybe that's why my apps aren't getting to interview.But I'm just looking for a broad grad scheme that doesn't look for specific backgrounds and that won't pigeonhole me into a specific type of work - ideally one which will leave me with more options and leverageable experience/skills than I have now, and perhaps even set me up to do an MBA a few years down the line.

There are plenty of well regarded graduate programmes in that would enable you to move into consulting later, probably in conjunction with a top MBA if you want MBB. The challenge is that you need to pick a sector you are interested in now, rather than deferring that by spending the first few years of your career as a generalist. My advice would be to pick a sector that you are interested in and look at the graduate programmes available, it is hard to advise without knowing what interests you, but in general big, well known, financially robust multinational companies are probably the best bet. Think big oil, pharma, FMCG; GE famously operate a great grad programme, and are renowned for exporting talent.

MC is not the be-all-end-all, as you are thinking. If MC are rejecting you, for whatever reason, they are doing so on the basis in a very competitive and open market, your 1st in English from Oxford just isn't good enough. What business and/or technical acumen have you experienced/learnt that could beat a fellow candidate applying for the same role? What value can you provide, say, against a non-UK applicant? And so forth..The skillset exports from overseas has seen a dramatic increase (ONS: In 2007, increased 136%). You have to consider what YOU are capable of providing, rather than expect you to enter MC and expect the employer to mould you. They expect someone they employ who can stand out, add value from the start and require min training to achieve goals. That is what I would expect from my MCs, and if they don't, they get a hammering and doing pleb work until I find an opportunity to move/get rid of them. Harsh? Get out. Also, don't forget to do your own research, should you decide to venture down industry, or whatever. At the end of the day, you pave your career, we don't.

The Barclays grad scheme ticks all of those boxes and is well regarded across financial services. I joined their grad scheme in 2003 and put in a 4 year stint in a range of areas - retail, corporate banking as well as Barclays Capital for a year. I moved across to MBB last year and haven't looked back. A few people managed to engineer a funded MBA from what I recall - definitely worth a look. Look at the other banks as well - i've heard good things about the HSBC management scheme. Most of them will place you in a stream i.e. corporate banking, retail banking, capital markets, IT, Marketing etc but you get to chose and you chose your placements anyway.

You could look at the public sector - http://www.careers.civil-service.gov.uk/ Some departments will be more secure than others in this climate, so that would be worth bearing in mind too.

Civil Service Fast Track has already closed - though I managed to sign up just before the deadline. That's a problem I've found quite a lot - if you went in for MC and it didn't work out, then you find that you've already passed a lot of the important deadlines. If I were advising any young graduates, I would say to put in strong applications to companies in at least 2 or 3 other sectors, especially in this climate. Oh well.

I wasn't necessarily thinking Fast Track - there's plenty of BA (not strictly MC, I know) and programme/project management opportunities in the CS, which at least give you some relevant experience to hop sideways into at least middle-tier MC at a later date (at least I hope so...)CS is pretty good at variety (dependent on department) and reasonably easy to transfer between them / between roles, plus the benefits package and job security looks pretty good right now.