Is it common to get rejected from MBB summer internships but receive Full-Time offer later?

What percentage of MBB full-time hires also applied and were rejected (either with or without interviewing) during internship recruiting? Is it common to hear of somebody who receives an FT offer later after they've done more practice? For target schools, do most people receive another interview invite, provided they had some good internship experience over the summer?

 
Best Response

Typically internship recruiting is more competitive than full time at the undergraduate level. However, if firms end up signing most of their summer interns, they might not do fulltime recruiting at all.

If you were good enough to get an interview for internship recruiting, then you should be able to get a fulltime interview. Thus more internship experience won't necessarily help you - it would still be all about the case interview. In that regard, practice helps a lot with case interviews but only to a certain point. If you are practicing cases for 6 months then you might not be cut out for consulting.

 
tangyorangutan:
Typically internship recruiting is more competitive than full time at the undergraduate level. However, if firms end up signing most of their summer interns, they might not do fulltime recruiting at all.

Assuming we are talking about the US, this isn't true at all. Yes, internship recruiting is more competitive fulltime--that bit is correct. However, MBB offices typically fill only 1/3-1/2 of their starting class through internship program and will (almost always) have full-time recruiting no matter how many interns receive and accept a FT offer. (In most cases, 90-100% of interns receive and accept.)

 
pnb2002:

Assuming we are talking about the US, this isn't true at all. Yes, internship recruiting is more competitive fulltime--that bit is correct. However, MBB offices typically fill only 1/3-1/2 of their starting class through internship program and will (almost always) have full-time recruiting no matter how many interns receive and accept a FT offer. (In most cases, 90-100% of interns receive and accept.)

It depends on the office. This may be common in larger offices like NYC, but definitely not in smaller offices. If the office is happy with their summer class, there is literally no reason for them to extend additional FT offers if they don't have spots to fill. Regardless, even if a firm does do FT recruiting, it is likely there will be fewer offers.

 
tangyorangutan:
If you were good enough to get an interview for internship recruiting, then you should be able to get a fulltime interview. Thus more internship experience won't necessarily help you - it would still be all about the case interview. In that regard, practice helps a lot with case interviews but only to a certain point. If you are practicing cases for 6 months then you might not be cut out for consulting.

Also not true at all, although this one is much more of a personal opinion than a fact. Even if you got an internship interview, additional internship experience can help you receive an offer for FT by helping you craft a better story about your background and convincing the interviewer that you are fit for (and interested in) the job.

 
pnb2002:

Also not true at all, although this one is much more of a personal opinion than a fact. Even if you got an internship interview, additional internship experience can help you receive an offer for FT by helping you craft a better story about your background and convincing the interviewer that you are fit for (and interested in) the job.

Technically this is true, but realistically your background/behavioral is not as important as the case interview. Behavioral interviews are more about firm fit than impressing people with where you worked the summer before. Keep in mind there are literally NO prereqs for consulting. I know people who have had 0 industry experience that got MBB offers.

 

Pretty common! People who make it second rounds for summer recruiting are typically put on a priority list and get invited to events/workshops over spring and summer. I got dinged at both the MBBs I interviewed with for summer recruiting - and got offers with 2 for full-time (didn't interview with one after I got my dream offer).

If you got to second rounds and were close - you will almost definitely be called back. However, if you got dinged after the first round, you want to have the internship experience - simply because the amount of work experience expected from a junior applying for internships is less than that expected from a college senior applying for a full-time position (almost everyone I know in consulting did a top junior internship). Also, I found that having been at a consulting firm helped me think more like a consultant - and that definitely helped with case prep.

TLDR: practice cases, read HBR/McK Quarterly/BCG Perspectives, stay in touch with your connections, try to get a relevant (tier 2/3 or corp strat) internship - and you'll have a VERY good shot.

 

Illo nemo qui rem repellat. Eveniet reiciendis voluptatum ut asperiores voluptatum velit hic quia. Perferendis vel maxime voluptates dolore.

Aut aut qui et omnis et non aut eius. Recusandae pariatur enim illo delectus culpa aperiam consequatur. Voluptate suscipit ut neque nihil.

Omnis eius magnam animi unde amet ut. Corrupti reprehenderit perferendis aut vitae. Quia sit et dolores quo voluptatem. Minus quia ab accusamus. Officiis voluptate reiciendis voluptates in.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (100) $226
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • Senior Consultant (331) $130
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Consultant (587) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (146) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (344) $103
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1048) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (552) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”