The global fast food chain Burger King has announced that it is now targeting its European recruitment programme at Cambridge graduates. It hopes to shake the off-putting stigma traditionally associated with the fast food industry.

Four top higher education institutions in the UK, including Cambridge, and several in the rest of Europe are receiving visits from high-level Burger King management.

The fast food company says that it wants to “source the best talent” for 20 places on its management trainee programme for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), pursuing the “next generation of transformational leaders” in the lucrative catering industry.

The management course involves two months of “operational training” in a Burger King outlet. This is followed by a corporate training programme in an office in London, Madrid, Munich or Zug in Switzerland, being paid a competitive salary at all stages of the process.

The application process for the programme is highly competitive; prospective trainees must undergo logic tests and English examinations online, as well as partaking in formal interviews with the company, if they hope to make their way into the world of burgers and chips.

José Cil, president of Burger King EMEA, said of the scheme: “We are looking for the best candidates from the UK and across Europe who have passion for our business and leadership potential.

“The management trainee programme will provide participants with opportunities to grow and achieve their personal best in a thriving business environment.”

Of the 2013 national cohort of graduate recruits, 80 per cent now work for Burger King in permanent positions. The chain is a major employer in the British Isles, with a workforce of over 25,000 in the UK and Ireland. Burger King suffered setbacks last year after becoming embroiled in the horse-meat scandal, as a result of which it placed full-page apologies in national newspapers.

Work in the fast food industry traditionally receives scorn from graduates of top universities. However, this prejudice should be avoided, says Gordon Chesterman, director of the University of Cambridge’s Careers Service.

“Students are under some peer group and parental pressure to join the ‘best’ employer in that sector with the most prestigious job title. It is these companies that will receive thousands of applications, yet only hire a handful of students.

“We handle several thousand graduate-level opportunities a year, many of them are in organisations that might raise a parent’s eyebrow in surprise”.

He went on to say: “My advice is for students to look more at the role on offer and less so at the employer, apart from checking they are reputable, relatively successful and able to deliver what they’re offering.”