Hey, lots of great info on here but I just wanted to ask a quick question along similar lines of a recently posted topic (hope thats ok!)Who are the companies that I would most likely be able to get into?Any comments/advice greatly appreciated! Cheers all.

My background in brief:OK GCSE's (no A's though!)Rubbish A levelsEx poly uni- University of the West of EnglandBusiness Information Systems Degree- high 2.1 (68%)Work experience- student consultancy project with a real client (national charity) allocation of £10000 budget thanks to lottery funding.Biz Dev at an SME and 6 months office exp at an international logistics company.I'm 24 at the moment and realise time is not on my side! I had planned to become a commercial airline pilot but thats gone out the window.

To conclude, I don't want to waste my time applying to companies that are only interested in academic achievers from red brick uni's. I'm trying to be realistic here now guys, my dream of a grad job starting on £30k plus isn't viable considering my academic background but I am willing to start lower down on the ladder and get my head down and put in some serious work!

Hi MikeAs you will have summised from many recent threads, strat houses look for overachievement throughout your CV and typically recruit Top-5 uni types. Big 4 and the other large consultancies will specify a threshold which you must meet or overcome to be considered (typically 2:1 and As and B's at A-Level) however some (note some) may waive lower A-Levels if you can demonstrate good work experience, a Masters or other significant achievements. However from experience recruiting no one will budge on a 2:1.I would suggest the large consultancies and Big 4 in addition to looking at high0profile grad schemes in industry. Often if you get into a top FTSE 100 company, many will put you on rotational assignments and you may be able to network your way into an in-house strategy or consulting assignment.You're 24 so all is not lost at all mate - apply for a number of companies, spend time on your applications and get onto a grad scheme of sorts and this will give you the best chances. Don't leave it too late. Alternative is to do a Masters at a top uni in business, economics to give you a more academic grounding and business knowledge.

Thats a great reply, many thanks for the feedback.Thankfully I have a 2.1 in the bag but to be honest I'm not really sure that will count for a lot as its from an average uni. Saying that though a friend on mine from the same course managed to get into IBM.The masters route may be something I could look into should I be unsuccessful in applications to FTSE 100 companies. As you mentioned, I will hopefully be able to work my way into a position that will enable me to gain consulting experience.Better crack on with those applications! Not much fun but has to be done. Cheers

Hi Mike,I certainly feel your pain. I too graduated from BBS at UWE with a 2:1, but in Business Studies. I must say that I do feel that it hasn't exactly helped my recruitment prospects graduating from an ex-poly. I got some A's at GCSE/A-level but things have been a struggle since. Apologies for the downer in my response.I did get onto a FTSE-250 grad scheme with provided both a great experience and potential prospects before it was shut-down when the company was taken over so I too find myself in the same position as you, albeit with more experience (I'm 28). I too would suggest trying your hardest to get onto a prestigious grad scheme as progression routes should be made more clear to you, firstly within the company and then after time (and having gained experience) you should be able to use that as equity when applying to consultancies. Hell, that's what I'm doing!Best of luck!...we need it!

Mike, JamesI'm going to state the obvious - and probably what many of the other regulars are thinking. Capgemini, ACN etc are massive organisations, employing thousands of people; do you think for one moment that are ALL from Oxbridge? Nonsense. Do they all have Firsts? No.So why do they get the job and you struggle.Confidence. They don't walk around apologising for their degree, that they didn't go to Oxbridge, don't know the sister of the CEO of Accenture etc. You both talk like you are failiures and that is how you will be perceived. Unless you are applying to MBB, a 2:1 is a 2:1 - it's one line on your CV and thereafter you have to distinguish yourself, project a positive, confident, can-do, go-get attitute and show you are a positive person who would blend into a project team and get on with it, not sit around wringing your hands because someone with a 2:2 in History from Cambridge is sitting next to you and you think they are superior. Ah yes, you both say, what about the credit crunch, what about the competition? News flash - MC, FTSE100 etc no longer attracts the very brightest, and with IB now non-existent, neither does that. Where does everyone want to work? Google, Microsoft, Apple, Innocent Drinks, the list goes on - companies people feel are making a positive contribution to their lives personally. Even MBB has lost some of its lustre and banking will never be the same. The leading lights of the FTSE are now the dinosaurs of yesterday. So guess what, they need bright, motivated, committed people who have thought it through and want to work there and feel THEY ARE GOOD ENOUGH. To misquote Kennedy, ask not what you can do for IBM, ask waht IBM can do for you.

I also went to UWE graduated with 2.1 from BBS in business admin (no placement) at 24. Then worked in recruitment for two years. Then did MSc (still not red-brick!) now just finished grad scheme in VERY well known telecoms company. It's do-able just need to have confidence and some business smarts.