Considering the move to Australia (pros and cons)

"So far I have applied to: Deutche bank, BP, UBS, PWC, Deloitte, KPMG, IBM, Unilever and BAE systems to name just a few."

It sounds like you don't know what you want to do. Banker? Accountant? Scientist? Engineer?
 
Eriedor said:
I'm in 4th year at uni and currently looking at graduate oppotunities myself. I too find it incredibly frustrating how companies view A levels with such high regard. How can they judge who I am now at 22 based on the results of a myself as a careless 18 year old. :@
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Just don't put your A levels on your CV, its bad practice anyway. To keep a CV short as possible you should oinly stipulate your latest and highest level education and work experience). A levels shouldn't appear n a CV and shouldn't be asked for if you have a degree.

I have never asked for my Highers.
 
D.P. said:
Just don't put your A levels on your CV, its bad practice anyway. To keep a CV short as possible you should oinly stipulate your latest and highest level education and work experience). A levels shouldn't appear n a CV and shouldn't be asked for if you have a degree.

I have never asked for my Highers.
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Most graduate application forms will ask for your A level grades.

And putting them on your CV when you're only a graduate isn't 'bad practise'.
 
D.P. said:
Just don't put your A levels on your CV, its bad practice anyway. To keep a CV short as possible you should oinly stipulate your latest and highest level education and work experience). A levels shouldn't appear n a CV and shouldn't be asked for if you have a degree.

I have never asked for my Highers.
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you have to enter your ucas point score in to the app forms for companies he has indicated in his post

for an investment bank normally you need

300ucas point
2.1
and work experience (Internship)
 
the original poster seems to want a graduate position on their formal routes.

with particular reference to banking and the big 4 you are going to struggle to get past their auto filter. formal schemes are going to be hard for you. everyone of has similar credentials; your competitors will be from the same calibre unis - making many of your achievements almost worthless in the big picture. once you get an interview, however, your credentials seem much more impressive and then you have a much better chance.

you have a few options however:
1. you could start trying to network with employees at your target firms. ask for ad hoc work experience, go to recruitment fairs and make an impression. talk about your poor a levels and see if they can help. contacts in this industry can bypass many stages of selection.

2. you could sign up with a recruitment agency and take any temp work in the city. you could easily get relevant work this way - although not in the exact same positions you would on the grad scheme. anything like trade support etc is still good.

in time internal promotions and full time contracts will be so much easier and you can also apply elsewhere, with your a levels counting for less than your experience.

3. some agencies have info on the grad vacancies for the niche, smaller firms. these would still be the grad role but in smaller banks (where you can arguably progress quicker). a friend got into an grad role in a small bank this way with a third - great role and pay etc.

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just because you are not getting into the formal schemes does not mean you have to move abroad for gods sake. you just have to try other routes.
 
For a graduate you've got pretty impressive credentials, but umm, you also seem to carry quite some attitude along with it (Try and tone that down a bit? It's the employers doing you a favour after all, not you doing them a favour by working for them). Sure, having weaker A-levels will hamper your efforts to join a lot of places, but there are so many others that would happily take you.

Here's a list of some that I'm pretty sure take on chemical engineers for their graduate programmes (I think you'll get better results if you target companies who specify what sort of graduate they are looking for rather than those requesting the generic 2.1+ in any discipline/240+ UCAS points):

Acergy, Maersk Group, Buro Happold, Centrica, Faber Maunsell/AECOM, Jacobs Engineering, KBR Energy & Chemicals, Santos, Rio Tinto, Schlumberger, Parsons Brinckerhoff, MWH Global, Shell, Gardline Group, BHP Billiton, BG-Group, Atkins Global, Amey, Mott Macdonald, Black & Veatch, ABB Group, ADAS and WRc.
 
Hope whatever decision you make works out for you. Only advice i'd give is that if you do move, be patient and give it time. All too often i've heard of people coming home after only a few months.
 
I applied to the 'big 4' and got rejected from all of them without any interviews or anything. I got a first in physics with theoretical astrophysics from Nottingham and 3Bs at A level. I'm now working towards my ACA with a fairly small accountancy firm (15 grads recruited each year) in London :) My advice is to apply to smaller companies, you can always leave once you've qualified. E&Y phone our work all the time to find out if anyone is near finishing the ACA and try to snap them up!
 
Ive just applied for my skilled visa. No idea where in OZ im going but Im going within the next 18 months.

Seem to be enough jobs about in my field in Sydney but not sure if thats where I want to be at the moment.

The first step on a long journey.

Be interested to here on employment options in Adelaide? Hows the IT business?
 
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I graduated this year from Warwick with a 2.2 in Physics... I've been rejected by lots of places, graduate schemes etc and finally got a job which I started last week which isn't a graduate scheme.

Thankfully i have 320 UCAS points, although I don't have a 2.1 which counts me out of most top graduate schemes.

I guess you will struggle big time with 3 Cs at A levels in terms of graduate schemes, I haven't really seen many jobs in my search that don't ask for at least BBC or something similar.

If you still struggle with getitng a grad scheme, just apply to recruitment agencies, the job may not be as glamourous or highly paid, but it's something at least. I applied to 2 agencies after 4 months of getting rejected... I got both the jobs the agents put me for. One of which was almost as good as a graduate scheme at a big company... I went with the other one though as it was more my thing (although now im screwed money wise as its in london).
 
SaBBz said:
I applied to the 'big 4' and got rejected from all of them without any interviews or anything. I got a first in physics with theoretical astrophysics from Nottingham and 3Bs at A level. I'm now working towards my ACA with a fairly small accountancy firm (15 grads recruited each year) in London :) My advice is to apply to smaller companies, you can always leave once you've qualified. E&Y phone our work all the time to find out if anyone is near finishing the ACA and try to snap them up!
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Extremely suprised none of them gave you an interview
 
GarethDW said:
Seems to me that you're applying for positions that aren't within your field of interest. Why would IBM, PWC, Toilet & Douche, KPMG, et al be interested in hiring someone with a chemistry background?

Fair enough, you went to Warwick (ps - according to the Times it was rated 7th not 5th, and the Grauniad voted it 8th ;)) but you have a chemistry background not an IT or finance background, at least that's my understanding from the posts you've made so far.

I also think that if you're primary reason is to further your career, then going to Australia isn't the best option. No offence to any Australians reading this (tis a truly great country) but you'd advance your career much further by emigrating to the US rather than Australia.

Lastly, working for a "big name" corporation isn't always all it's cracked up to be... don't be fooled by the name, always take the best job you can find - even if it's with a small time company rather than a huge multi-national. In the past I worked for one of the Big 5 IT consultancy companies (the one which changed its name after divorcing from Arthur). I stuck it out for a few years before I realised that I wasn't enjoying the job, I only got enjoyment from telling people who I worked for.
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The big 4 accountancies would much rather have someone who got a first in a science than a first in Business with Finance. Warwick was 5th in the UK when me and that guy joined... it got worse probably due to my poor grades lol :)
 
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