Has anybody here managed to have a successful career in consultancy despite only achieving a 2.2 in their degree? If so how did you go about it? Many Thanks

Hi Spud,See previous discussion on this! I think it can be difficult to pass the initial screening with a 2.2 unless you have can prove deep involvment in other activities. I suggest you try a small/mid size consultancy before trying to aim for the boutiques. PS i know many 2.2 and even a 3rd class degree holder working for "top" consultancies. So keep persisting.

Hi B, thanks for the reply. Any suggestion as to the companies i should focus on. I know BT Global consulting take 2.2 students with a relevant MSc. Are you aware of any other such companies. I have spent hours searching on the internet but every company i look at asks for a 2.1!

If you use the search box on the right hand side of the main forum page, you can enter 2.2 and it will bring up a ton of discussion threads that have covered this topic in recent months... Hope that helps, Tony

Try LogicaCMG. Even if they advertise 2.1's they most certainly accept 2.2s as well.You need to focus on smaller consultancies, build the experience (make sure you get good clients) and then go for the big boys.Fay

Never held me back I was 0.8% (!) off a 2.1 and felt that life was over! After something of a struggle in getting through the front door and giving up on typical graduate recruitment..all became fine-infact I was probably better off as I got "real" work rather than being brushed off as a silver spoon grad. I am now fortuate enough to have completed an MBA from a really good school and that has made the 2.2 (achieved at a time of personal unhappiness:( ) irrelevant

Seems like a bit of a trivial critique - shouldn't consultancies look at candidates from diverse backgrounds?I've got a fairly std education, a-levels then degree etc. But it seems odd that consultancies that pride themselves on being able to re-mould a business and advise on diversified issues would only take candidates from a very constraining brief. I understand the need to filter out candidates to make the whole recruitment and application process more managable - but surely this misses out on a wealth of experience.

What, experience of lower marks? Sorry, but you had to expect that one...No doubt there are many people with II.ii's who would be great consultants, but it's not like most consultancies are short of applicants. They just don't need to look at people with lower qualifications. All thigs being equal, they're going to take the young graduate with the consistent track record of achievement (thus far), who has had the drive to get the best results.

No, no. You missed the point, I agree about the "filtering" of academics to make a pile of CVs smaller - it's a very simple metric to use for appointments.I work at a firm where we're desperate for a certain position (a specialised technical role).Now while we've currently got an empty seat for this role and currently this work is being farmed out at an extortinate rate. HR will continue their fairly eronious (and thus far fruitless) search for suitable candidates that fall within the definitions for potential people (i.e masters minimum etc). Several candidates have been recommended for the role who are more than suitable but as they do not have the minimum academics from 8 yrs ago then they are not considered as HR will fail in their targets.It's more of a loaded question to people (particularly HR folk) on here, how much influence do HR have over the recruitment process and are there metrics that are prioritised over justfiable business cases?