Hi Canadian MBA,Know the feeling! An MBA from a top school, some decent experience and every time you put your toe in the door they politely ask you to remove it and slam the door shut. My own view is that the market over here is improving, but it's starting from a low base as it was a much more severe downturn in consulting versus the economy as a whole. The good news is that the recovery is now stronger in consulting than the economy as a whole. That's partly to do with some of the reasons clients hire consultants (demand increases in this part of the cycle), but also because the cost-cutters often got it wrong in the downturn (i.e. they overdid it, often made cuts in the wrong places and now they are short-staffed).So as to your first question I would say generally no, but suggest you read an up-to-date UK consulting market report if you have not already done so. There are real reasons to be more positive. As to changing your approach - go for areas where there is demand and meticulously rewrite your CV to demonstrate it. Example : I don't specialise in your sectors, but the Oil/Gas/Energy sector has a much higher recruitment demand over here than say heavy industry/manufacturing (slowest to recover). Petrochemicals (to people like me who don't really know seems to straddle both). The thing is HR people are probably not really going to know either, but you need to get past them to meet partners and experts in your field. I would play up your experience/knowledge in the petrochemical/oil industry and play down your heavy industry expertise. Target consultancies with existing expertise/clients in your field.Another thing to consider is targetting consultancies with offices in both the UK & Canada, to keep your options open for the future (plus they will probably be more receptive to your background). However London is so international, that if you have the required work permit, a UK address and can get to interview it is very unlikely to be an issue.
