Most sectors in Scottish financial services are struggling to create new roles currently, but it's arguable that after a raft of redundancies in 2008, corporate banking never really recovered north of the border.

There were roles created in the likes of Santander, Barclays and HSBC, but nothing like the numbers needed to offset the fallout from HBOS and RBS. Ex-senior corporate bankers have told us that they estimate no more than 100-150 "true corporate" bankers are now operating in the large institutions north of the border.

Moreover, as we've pointed to previously, a lot of people working in the sector are becoming increasingly disillusioned, which is prompting something of an exodus.

Assuming you have a desire to leave corporate banking, where could you feasibly leverage your skills? Based on conversations with seasoned Scottish corporate bankers, some whom have left and some who remain in the industry, here are some options.

1) The third sector

Yes, volunteering your time and expertise for finance, fundraising or governance issues for the charity sector isn't necessarily a long-term career plan, but it's an area where business nous is much needed. Should you want to, there's also the option of taking a strategic role within the charity itself.

Graeme Powrie, an ex-HBOS corporate banker and now membership and business development manager at charity Pilotlight, says there is a huge demand.

"The one thing the charity voluntary sector needs, aside from funds, is experienced business people who can apply their strategic skills across marketing, finance, HR or governance," he says. "There's also a big demand for business development professionals, which a corporate banker could easily apply their skills to. They would, however, need to be willing to accept a significant pay cut."

2) The independent banking professional

One prominent west of Scotland ex-banker, who worked in the industry for 33 years before starting his own consultancy, now offers advisory work to large corporates and SME businesses north of the border, many of which were ex-clients during his banking days.

Whether you're being forced out on to the jobs market through redundancy, or leaving of your own accord, the important thing is to be proactive about approaching your clients before situation becomes public knowledge, he says.

"People can be stubbornly stupid when they're made redundant, and often the situation becomes emotional and antagonistic," he says. "The important thing is to set up coffee meetings with trusted clients, inform them that you're changing path and explain how you can still be of use to them. Whatever you do, don't send out a blanket e-mail to all clients offering your services."

A lot of his work currently, he says, is bridging the gap between SMEs and banks, and helping both understand what the other needs and how to make the relationship amicable again. There's also a steady stream of advisory work for larger companies, he says.

Generally, such a path is limited to experienced, well-networked corporate bankers, however.

3) Finance or commercial director

A simple way of leveraging corporate banking skills is to gravitate away from the financial sector and towards a senior finance role in industry. Very often, this route is taken within former clients.

"There's definitely scope for taking senior strategic roles within companies who you have banked for a number of years," says one senior corporate banker. "Potentially, there's a need for a formal accountancy qualification, but a trained corporate banker should consider themselves an expert in financing and governance issues."

4) Private equity

In fairness, the private equity sector in Scotland isn’t exactly huge, but there are some key players north of the border, not least Scottish Equity Partners, Penta Captial, LDC and Dunedin Capital Partners.

"A qualified corporate banker is potentially a hugely advantageous acquisition for a private equity firm," says another senior corporate banker in Scotland. "There's a something of knowledge gap in terms of understanding equity risk, but they understand capital structure and have a deep experience around debt risk. Bankers could theoretically wear two hats within the organisation for the price of one."