MBB Recruiting Cycle/ Interviews

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm a recent graduate with a double major in Bioengineering and Economics. I have a bit of an unconventional approach towards consulting: I've done a lot of bioengineering research (authored two manuscripts in peer reviewed, scientific journals) and also took quantitive finance classes throughout my undergraduate career. Since graduating, I've worked at a boutique healthcare consulting firm and continued the research part time(after FT) but am seriously considering moving into a more high-energy, real impact consulting firm (thinking of McKinsey Bain, or a related field)

My questions are: what are the recruiting cycles for the MBB firms, and how can I maximize my chances for getting an interview invite? Do they recruit through winter and if I ask people in the firms who I know that work there, would I have a better chance compared to anonymous submission? Should I inMail recruiting leads from the SF offices for each of those firms?

Thanks a bunch!

3 Comments
 
Best Response

Hey Maverick,

I am currently going for FT recruiting at all 3 MBB firms out of undergrad and I went to an extremely non-target school.

Here is some advice:

  1. All consulting firms do what they consider "out of cycle" recruiting for students in special circumstances (such as yourself). These cycles occur in both Winter and Spring.

  2. The best way to get into out of cycle recruiting is to network with partners at the firm of your choice.

  3. networking tips: a. Leverage your network. UC Berkeley is a semi-target, and with your background you have a strong profile (Many engineers go into consulting). Find someone you have common themes with (Healthcare, engineering, etc) and ask them for advice. VERY IMPORTANT: Be able to concisely articulate why you want to consulting, how your skills/experience is relevant, and why that firm in particular.

  4. Remember that MBB also want people with extensive amounts of leadership experience. As these types of experiences are often an engineers weakspot make sure to highlight experiences where you led groups/collaborated with various stakeholders to deliver a solution (and quantify that).

 

Hey Steven,

Thanks for the reply and information. I'll start reaching out and contacting people accordingly. Should there be a specific date I submit my application to the online portals? ( for Winter recruiting) and is a general date a good benchmark idea? I'm wondering if I submit too early it won't get looked at, or timings won't line up and they'll automatically reject it.

 

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