The career trajectory of a banker simply isn’t as straight-forward as it used to be. Would-be Masters of the Universe have traditionally been driven by the notion that if you worked hard and networked with the right people, your reward would be promotion to MD. No longer.

In a world where regulation is increasing, pay is falling, and even those with a healthy salary will have to wait until they are booking holidays through Saga to get their hands on the cold hard cash, there's a new career conundrum: MD promotions seem to be on decline. The result is that even those who appeared nailed-on for promotion a few years ago are now settling at base camp rather than reaching the summit. So what are your options if you don't get the nod?