Hi, I was wondering whether any of the more experienced consultants would be able to help answer my question -I applied via the milkround last year to all the usual suspects, got half a dozen interviews, reached the final round with three but got no offers. Should I bother reapplying this year or just cut my losses and go to EY/ACN or even become a bean counter with one of the big 4?

on balance, yes, it is worth trying. You were close last time. In reality, your chances will depends on what you have done in the past year. I am assuming you were in your final year when you applied last time. If you have done a masters in something useful or worked for a blue chip company, you will have enhanced your chances. If you have gone travelling, you may still be in with a shout. If you have been temping or worked for someone lower down the foodchain, you have probably killed your chances. by the way, if you can do it, I would be tempted to do the accountancy. steady job!

Whats wrong with ACN - you talk of it as a sub-standard company. Its still one of the most desired destinations for new grads.I suggest you take a look at www.accenture.com and find out more about our great organisation.

Dave - your CV basically gets you an interview, beyond that it's how you perform at interview, how you interact and how you perform in the case studies that determines whether you make it through and secure an offer. I would bet a fair amount that it was your interview performance that cost you the job first time round.Most firms will take the view that a graduate can have developed and matured quite a bit in the year after leaving University, so you're unlikely to be automatically rejected simply because you didn't get an offer in the previous graduate intake year. As before, you'll probably get a number of interviews and it'll then be your interview performance that determines whether you make it through or not.As an aside, I would also consider approaching the 3 firms that you got to final rounds with and seeing if they'd like to have you in again for interview now (rather than waiting for the next milkround process). Given the hiring difficulties and staff attrition that many firms are facing right now, they might view someone who they almost made an offer to last year as an attractive hiring proposition... Just a thought.Good luckTony RestellTop-Consultant.com