McDonald's seeks trainee managers - graduate jobs

Graduates hoping to enter the food retail industry could do worse than approach McDonald's, which is expecting to fill 150 trainee business manager places in 2009.

The company, which has featured in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list each year for the past 10 years, offers trainees a starting salary of £21,500 a year, with additional allowances for those working in London and the South East.

Successful applicants will take part in an 18-week management development programme covering areas including finance, marketing and human resources.

Following the initial training course, trainees work with a restaurant management team for two to three years before becoming a business manager on a salary of £45,000.

Other benefits include 25 days' holiday a year, or 30 days after three years, a paid eight-week sabbatical every 10 years, and the option of a company pension.

According to the Times, McDonald's usually receives about 25 applications for every graduate management place.