No return offer from T2 for MBA internship

Currently finishing up my summer internship at T2 consulting firm (ATK, S&, LEK, ACN) and just found out that I am not getting a return offer. The feedback during the return offer call was a bit more direct than any feedback during the internship. It was not a matter of effort, attitude, or culture, but there were some concerns about performance. I sort of expected that given I come from a non-traditional background (military, non-profit, TFA) and this was my first experience in the corporate world.

Just looking for general advice. Has this happened to anyone on here? I'm hoping to re-recruit for consulting full-time and know I need to be able to explain this well, just hoping that it is not a huge red flag. Also wondering if it is even common for employers to ask if you have a return offer?

5 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Listen - a lot of people recruit again full time anyways. Honestly nobody will ever know. Just come up with a two line reason for rerecruiting (I'm more interested in xyz, which you specialize in...) or something like that. If they even ask.

ATK/S&/LEK experience is a huge plus on the resume. You'll likely get interviews anywhere you want for full time (that is recruiting at OCR, that is). ACN similar to a slightly lesser extent; you might not have an auto-interview at all firms but you should be fine.

Take a few corporate interviews just to be safe; similarly, it will be a positive indicator for them. There are a few corporates outside of tech that paid $150k+ all in when I was in school.

 

I appreciate the help.

If asked directly whether I had a return, I will probably just say something along the lines of "I do not, its a competitive process in a small firm and not all interns got return offers, my project team was great and are willing to serve as references...learned a ton...I still want to do consulting..." I do not plan to mention any of the specific feedback unless asked, but let's be real consultants always give feedback and areas for improvement, so I do not think this will matter much.

If it doesn't come up directly, I think it is easy to just talk around it like you said.

 

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