Consulting Recruiting 2023

Starting this thread to learn about consulting recruiting timeline and process. I assume I'm not the only one who is starting to bug that they won't land an IB job and starting to look at consulting. If anybody has info, feel free to drop it below.

 

PwC started recruiting women candidates about a month ago. Others will be recruited starting Fall 2022. As for the other consulting firms, no idea. They make it confusing by leaving open ended internship postings online. Hard to say when to apply without networking at the firm. Don't go by dates shared from past experiences since the schedule for 2023 can move up as it did for IB.

 
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I'll preface this post by saying that this was based off my experiences at my university in recruiting for MBB and T2 consulting internships in the NAMR region at a target university. With other internships and boutique shops this very well may not apply, though I believe the casing and networking stuff may be at least somewhat relevant? Take it with a grain of salt. 

In terms of the consulting timeline, you'll see that T2 firms tend to try to lock in applicants slightly earlier than the MBBs do. As an example above, Wyman is due exceedingly soon - they're, as far as I know, the earliest of almost all firms (T2 and MBB) in terms of non-diversity deadlines. 

Last year, in the continuing arms race for talent across the entire professional services industry MBB decided to open up an earlier deadline in July for full-time applicants as well as those "with exploding offers or feel that they are ready to enter the process." This is in addition to the September deadlines they had from before, at least for my university. You'll hear different things from different firms, they're a little bit coy about whether you should apply in the earlier slot or not, the exception being McKinsey, which explicitly said that they would like to see candidates complete their sophomore internships before applying for their junior internships. Something about "bringing their whole and best self" to the interview process. As a comment mentioned above, this is all very very subject to change. There is a more than likely chance in my opinion that MBB decides to pull the trigger on pulling deadlines a bit more forward this year, given the trend of banks doing the same. Given that, take a cold hard look at your situation and whether or not you'll be able to get in the casing reps to crush interviews by the time you'd like to apply, be it July or later. 

Something else to keep in mind is the matter of office choice that you'll be going through when figuring out where you want to apply. Here, some people get tripped up and agonize over this because there are a lot more banks out there in terms of the BBs and EBs collectively than the MBB and T2s together. All the MBBs will give you an ability to rank your preferences; from what I've heard, it really is more the illusion of choice than an actual choice. Chances are, you'll really only get interviewed for your top choice office, and even if you do get pulled by two offices at MBB, at least McKinsey I've been told will force you to choose one to go forward in the process in. Additionally, a person I spoke to on the recruiting team for my school at Bain said screeners usually look for people to have conviction and know that the office they really want to apply to is their top choice. So what I took away from that is none of that 40-40-20 stuff when you're submitting your application and office preferences. (Again, I'd like to emphasize that this is what I've heard from certain people I've spoken to and specific to my particular recruiting journey - I'm simply one data point. If anyone with better knowledge or insight on the process can interject and reply to correct what I've written here please do so!!). TL;DR, office choice really really really matters! So think hard about where geographically you'd like to work at and make sure you can see yourself enjoying work and life there - interviewers and screeners are ostensibly quite good at sniffing out fakes. Talk to people, talk to people, talk to people - you aren't going to get a great idea of what these offices are like just googling things online if I'm honest, and it never hurts to just reach out and shoot a message. I found that consultants were a lot more willing to get on zoom and speak with me for 20 or 30 minutes than bankers were, that's for sure.

When it comes to networking, perhaps you'll be happy perhaps you won't be, but from my experience networking is nowhere near as important as it is in banking, nor is it a guarantee for getting a ticket into the process (unless of course, a partner vouches for you). I think this might have to do with what I perceive to be a greater level of compartmentalization between HR and the consultants themselves. Out of MBB, I got one interview at a place I talked at and connected well with 4 people, didn't get interviewed at another place where I did the same, and got interviewed at a place where I did no networking whatsoever! All this is to say that to a certain extent, the process is kind of a shitshow, and the screening round is where the vast majority of applicants get cut like banking. That isn't to say that networking isn't important, I truly believe it helps you build a "why this office" or "why this firm" or "why consulting" that lends credence and substance when you're actually in the process talking to people and interviewing. 

When it comes to preparing for interviews, there's two components: the behavioral (of course) and the case interview.

This has been said many a time, but do not skimp on the former in pursuit of perfection in the latter. BCG's first round interview consists of an online case problem solving exercise and a behavioral, while McKinsey's PEI is notorious. Even if you're the best godamn caser in the world, if your behavioral falls flat you won't even get a chance to flex your preparation or skills. I think in the week leading up to my McKinsey interview I spent a good 20 hours or so just running through my story, going through my points, knowing everything front to back, and rehearsing with friends. This was after I got my ass kicked in another process because I think my behavioral section simply was just not up to snuff. (A note to make here is that Bain's first round actually does not have an explicit behavioral portion - they like to gauge your behavior through your case. This changes however in the decision round) 

When it comes to casing, of course you'll need to practice, but perhaps more importantly you need to find good case partners to practice with. A good case partner is probably the best way to get actionable feedback on what you did right and wrong, and then improve on those points. I can't imagine what it's like trying to prep for consulting interviews without the array of case partners that I worked with - all I know is that those who made it through without them are probably a hell of a lot qualified and smarter than I am. I found case partners mainly through my friends and classmates, but also ask your school's career services, preplounge, and perhaps even tap consultants currently working at the firm for advice. Upperclassman and current consultants are especially invaluable as they've gone through the process. In terms of preparation, I applied during September deadlines, started casing in late May or Early June, and ran through about 45 cases by late august. After interviews were done and dusted, I had done about 55. Your total may come in well above or well below these numbers. It really is different for everybody. 

Hope this gives y'all a bit of perspective on the process! I just word vomited here so some things may be off or weirdly phrased. Good luck with your current process and happy casing if you do decide to recruit for consulting!

 

Networking helps me know a story and put a face to name beyond the resume. If you're impressive, I'll make introductions to a lot more people including our recruiting director/recruiting partner & will case prep you/offer firm resources to help you prep. If you're not impressive, I won't make the introduction, but won't go out of my way to prevent you from the interview (some people might if they have too much time). Doesn't guarantee an interview but what's the alternative? A random resume?

I've really liked a candidate before and put in a good word to their final round interviewers as well. They got the offer with a so-so case. Final round interviewers are supposed to be objective especially with case which is table stakes, but we're all human with subconscious biases. 

How to be impressive? Know your story, do your research about the firm and consulting, know how to write an email. You'd be surprised how many people don't know to email.

 

MBB has multiple deadlines currently: you have an early one that'll be closing in the first half of July, and a second one that will close in the latter half of September. Applications for the first deadline are already live, at least for Bain. Applications though are reviewed only after the deadline closes - there's no advantage to applying earlier before a particular deadline, but the factors that determine which deadline you should apply to depend on your readiness and what other internships you have on the table. 

 

Went through the FT recruiting process last year and figured it would be worth passing down a nugget or two of knowledge. Echoing what has been said above, you can certainly land an offer without networking, but networking can help you determine what firms you are most interested in and maybe even help get your foot in the door if you are lucky or well-connected enough to talk to the right person. The key here is to try to land another conversation as you wrap up the first. Ask if they know someone in a group you are particularly interested in or someone who went to your school or had a similar major.

A timeline of how I went about it went like this:

Mid June - the moment before my final round interviews: case prep. I started by reading Case in Point and Case Interview Secrets. I think the latter was much more useful as it gave a better idea as to what exactly interviewers look for and how to conduct oneself in a case interview. I also watched any half decent videos I could find online of example cases. From there I began reading case prompts and just writing out frameworks and then checking to see if I drew something up that encapsulated most of the main points. Once I felt pretty good about how quickly and accurately I could draw out a framework, I began doing whole cases with case partners. I tried to do one per weeknight after work but that didn't always work out. Once interviews started happening I would just do them where I could find the time. I found it useful to try to do a case a day or two before interviews just to stay sharp. Also as mentioned above, the more experienced your case partners, the better. I would additionally recommend to try to case with at least a few different people to get diverse feedback. I think I probably did something like 30-50 standalone frameworks and maybe 20-30 full cases not including actual interviews by the time the recruitment process was said and done. These numbers will be different for everyone so don't use that as a benchmark, but instead go off how you feel personally. I'll also mention that throughout this time I did the occasional Khan Academy session where I would do like 20-30 percentage calculations or large number addition/subtraction to make sure I was comfortable with some quick mental math. In a lot of cases have you do this kind of stuff off the top of your head so I found this to be good practice.

Also mid-June: resume edits. Up until this point I hadn't touched my resume for a few months so I spent a portion of my free time for a a few days cleaning things up, soliciting feedback, and adding my internship experience up until that point. I'd recommend getting someone you know who is or was a consultant to take a look at your resume before dropping an application.

June - July: I did a little bit of networking here but honestly had a total of maybe only 5 conversations that I sought outside of a structured event by the firm. Use firm events to get email addresses, reach out on LinkedIn, or see if a mutual acquaintance is willing to introduce you. I'd caution you to know you shit here as you should be looking to impress whoever you're talking to with your thoughtful questions about the firm and their work.

July - August: cover letters. Honestly don't think these made a difference. Most people I talked to said cover letters are probably never even looked at but curious to hear if anyone has counterexamples or have heard otherwise. I did them anyway for most firms unless I was actively encouraged not to during an application workshop.

August - September: submit applications. I only ended up applying to one firm early (early July) because I had been doing some networking there. All the others I applied to prior to the September deadlines. Pretty much every firm I applied to had a deadline of mid-late September. I ended up applying to all the t2s, two b4s, and two of the three MBB.

August - September: "networking" events. Almost all (if not all) the firms I applied to had coffee chats, workshops, and Q&A sessions that you could sign up for. The ones that I did that were organized specifically for my school were the most useful as there were far more 1 on 1 opportunities and chances to show some face or speak up. I actually think these really helped me narrow down where I wanted to go and also helped me get my foot in the door. A friend of mine who went to a coffee chat for a t2 that I skipped had a really good conversation there and ended up getting an interview. I did not receive an interview, although I had arguably more relevant prior experience, major, and a better gpa. I think some (all?) firms use some of these events as a "pre-screening" of sorts to not only gauge interest but also begin picking out the candidates they are the most interested in pursuing.

September: behaviorals practice. Also as said above, don't skip this. I put a lot of time into behaviorals by knowing my resume inside and out, running through my story, and anticipating and loosely rehearsing some of the behavioral questions they may ask. One thing in particular I found useful was mentally running through all the more notable projects I had been involved with to make sure I could use a variety of experiences for the behavioral/experience questions if need be. Know your shit because I had interviewers ask some super granular questions about a few of these experiences. 

September - October: interviews. I ended up getting interviews at three t2s and a b4. I think my gpa might have fucked me at a few firms since its honestly not super impressive. I'd actually recommend putting your major gpa on your resume instead if its higher than your overall to give yourself a better chance at the initial resume screen. I made it to the final round at all the firms I interviewed at and received offers from two t2s, as well as a return offer from the boutique I interned at over the summer. Interviews were generally what you would expect, with each round typically having at least one case and a behavioral component. There were some notable variations. One t2 did all cases. Not a single behavioral interview, although if there was time they would ask me an experience-related question or two and give me the opportunity to ask some questions. Additionally, you may see some slight case variations. Written cases I actually thought were lower stress as I had about 15 min of my own time to look at the data and background before having to present my insight without the pressure of being actively stared at. All the case prep for a typical case will serve you fine here, although if you really want you could find some decks or reports from the firm you're interviewing at in advance to get a sense of the styles of visuals they use so you can maybe prepare for what might get thrown at you. Finally, for group cases take some good notes on your delegated portion, speak clearly when you address the team and present your findings to the interviewer(s), and just generally don't be a fucking weirdo. Don't feel like you have to "take over" and manage the team or the discussion, you can risk seeming pushy or hard to work with. I think as long as you're a strong candidate and you contribute you'll do just fine. Again, typical case prep should be enough. I would say the two biggest things to focus on in these is quickly finding important data and inferring the key points (my group got a ~40 slide deck and had like 20 minutes to come up with a verbal presentation) and communicating clearly and succinctly. You don't have a lot of time, are expected to contribute and add value, and need to look very comfortable working with the rest of the group, so communication is super important.

I apologize this is a little all over the place, hope it was of some help.

Best of luck!

 

Accenture full-time deadline is 13 July. I haven't been able to find anything about the other firms. LEK has an undergraduate case workshop Aug 1 so maybe they plan to recruit after that? Or it's for the summer internship applicants.

 

LEK FT 2023 associate is open now I’m pretty sure (at least for my school’s career portal)

 

yeah T2 and MBB recruit earliest

for B4, PwC recruited very early for women's consulting experience but they will be recruiting again in the Fall. B4 recruits in the fall usually

 

For Mck, I've heard you are notified about whether you pass or fail imbellus 2-14 days after you take. No clue on bcg, haven't heard from them past pymetrics. Also have not heard anything from bain and got my app in well in advance

 

Did anyone not receive the Pymetrics test from BCG? I got rejected at the decision round last year (for Summer 2022) and didn't get the pymetrics test when I applied for a full time role 2 days ago.

 

Anyone else's Bain application disappear from their application website?
Also, my BCG application is "not complete" on the portal even though I got confirmation email from them saying it is complete. Currently reached out to IT, not sure if that's the brightest move.

 

received an invite for McKinsey Chicago this morning. had a call with my Bain campus recruiting lead yesterday who passed forward my resume and said it got sent to my top office pick for and interview invites should be sent out by end of next week approximately after individual offices review resumes

 

honestly no firm answer, but I would say so. she was able to tell me certain details of my resume she saw before sending it out so I think she had to have looked at it before sending it off to the respective office. my theory is that the school recruiting leads take a first look to compare students from the same school then send them to the offices for a final check where they make interview decisions

 

People interviewing for McK, how are you choosing an interview date/ are there any pros of interviewing earlier opposed to later?

 

just got an invite to schedule 1st rd case interview for Bain NYC (at least i think so, it only says "northeast offices" but i only ranked nyc)

 

already scheduled it, all the timeslots I saw available were only on a single day (thursday july 28)

 

yeah im in a similar situation. submitted like right at the deadline on the 7th, but on app center it says submitted on the 8th. i already took the imbellus game, but does that mean im not being considered for early round?

 

Anybody know how selective Bain SF first round is? Just had my first interview today and I feel like I did great on the first one and kinda mid on the second. I heard that they are mainly looking to see if you've even done a case before (low bar), but some people say otherwise

 

Also did Bain SF today, didn’t seem like they were looking to weed out a ton of folks given difficulty of the cases. I’ve been told by a friend who’s an AC that they don’t expect perfection. I don’t think the bar is as low as “if you’ve done a case before” though. For reference, another friend at Bain DC estimates that the numbers are 250 (offered interview) —> ~70 (second round) —> ~15 (or there abouts). Obviously SF is a larger office so take this with a grain of salt!

 

It definitely will take more than one day to hear back. My friend at Bain SF says by the end of the week. A recruiter said to another friend that the timeline for R2 is next week/early week after, so sending out the scheduling info by end of this week seems realistic. 

 

What position is this for? Was not aware Accenture is even open

 

Has anyone heard anything about bain dc r2. I interviewed for r1 today and got an email saying that results would be out before the end of next week, but that doesn't make much sense to me considering a previous email from recruiting indicating that second round would be on august 3/4 which is before the end of next week.

I'm also curious as to how selective r1. Felt good about the first case and mid about the second. 

 

thats interesting - we got an email before the first round indicating that we had the option to do the second round in person and there was a survey to see which we would be available for 

August 3 virtual second round

August 4 in person second round 

maybe they expect a quick turn around on tuesday next week

 

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