Should I be feeling down about being ghosted/rejected?

Hi, 3rd year at a target school with no-name brand experience (mostly startups, nonprofits and a consulting club). It'll probably be a long shot to get in anywhere, but I talked to my cousin (a consultant - we are family, but he's pretty blunt) and a career counselor for the business school, and they said my resume was fine - career counselor said it was one of the best she's ever seen (but of course it's a biased sample, as people who have their resumes together probably won't be seeing her). 

I was rejected from Bain last Friday and knew it was a long shot with my no-brand name and no referral profile, but since then, I've been feeling concerned about how my other apps will turn out.

Here's what I have so far:

  • EY-Parthenon (OCR, they've reviewed my app on Handshake, but haven't made a decision yet - app was due 9/15 and they reviewed yesterday; reviewed just means downloaded documents)
  • McKinsey - submitted 9/10, nothing, no Imbellus test
  • Accenture - submitted 9/11, nothing, but did the Discovery Portal Monday (submission was previously in progress, but their timeline now says I haven't done anything at all)?
  • FTI, submitted 9/13, nothing 
  • Guidehouse - submitted 9/14, nothing, not sure if they are doing OCR anymore

I get these are big companies with tons of applicants, that they have to read through everyone's shit, and that I just applied not even a week ago for some. I might just be feeling a bit neurotic. However, with everything going on, I just have a bad feeling for some reason about this cycle, especially because I'm sure shit's more competitive this year. 

I don't HAVE to work in consulting (am also looking into product management and marketing) but it'd be nice to have a stable job (FT conversion) and a sense of direction. I have an "in" at one company but would like more than one interview. 

I guess I have to step it up with networking or be more patient? 

EDIT: Have gotten interviews from FTI, LEK, and Altman Solon in the meantime. 

24 Comments
 

A few things. Firstly, that these companies are wildly competitive. Like super competitive. Also, junior year recruitment is just harder than FT recruitment because there are more applicants and fewer spots (I think). 

Also, maybe try and hit the networking harder with firms that have later deadlines?

 

I think the less FT hires this year is a covid thing. For perspective, I am also a 3rd year at a target in the midwest and I heard that there was only 1 intern from my school two years ago to Bain whereas there was like 7 full time hires that same year. The numbers can vary, but the typical rule is that there are more FT spots. 

 

Hi, I heard about 6 months after I applied to a boutique life sciences consulting firm and interviewed with them 2 rounds so far. Keep trying! I hope you'll get where you need to eventually. 

 
Most Helpful

Submitting an application and getting rejected means nothing. You cant expect the majority of jobs to get back to you. Out of the 150+ applications i sent out, I probably got first round interviews for 10-15 companies. If you're discouraged after 5 rejections you're in for a rude awakening.

 

Been said above, but shit happens. Currently looking for a FT job and I have a F1000 and F50 internships on my resume and it's still a lot of rejection. I've had a handful of first round interviews and hirevue interviews. Been rejected from a couple, had an opening "cancelled" after I had interviewed and been provided positive feedback. I've probably applied to about 60 companies in the past month and I've heard back from 15 or so, little over half being flat rejections. 

I would assume quite a few places are still relatively early on in the process and figuring out the best way to advance given the circumstances. Definitely hurts getting ghosted/rejected from various places and seeing all your buddies post about their jobs but the right thing will come your way. 

Specifically to FTI, I had 3 interviews with them yesterday, 1 with CF-Retail and 2 with OCFO. The rest of this week is first rounds and I think part of next week is too, but one of my interviewers said that second round will be given out at the end of this week or next.

 

Could not be more similar to me. I've applied to over 12 consulting firms and I go to a non target but am in a consulting club where everyone else has gotten positions. I've only received 2 interviews and haven't heard back from either. I think COVID takes a lot of the blame for the ghosting part but we got to keep our heads up and keep applying to places. 

 

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