<p>I am wondering if January, 2014 is too late to apply for consulting positions starting in September, 2014. Does any recruiting take place outside of the "traditional" visits to colleges? D too busy finishing classes one semester early to recruit in traditional on campus schedule.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>My GS, Harvard Class of 2014, has already accepted a position (Business Analyst ie: Consulting) after completing multiple interviews and comparing offers. Done and well done!</p>
<p>The top consulting firms recruit new full time hires in September and October, and they recruit interns in the spring. Your daughter may have missed the boat for the best of the best management consulting firms; graduating a semester early is impressive, but consulting in general is an industry that recruits in the fall, so there will be far fewer opportunities available come springtime. There are still plenty of jobs out there, but she needs to readjust priorities to put job searching to the top, and she needs to do it today. I say today because Oct. 31 is a popular application deadline.</p>
<p>chrisw- There is no out-of-the box hiring with networking? Is the door absolutely closed? Seems a shame as D is bilingual (one of her two majors is Spanish) and held an internship with a top financial services firm. Seems like a pure cookie-cutter approach to hiring. Is this the same for Google and other larger firms?</p>
<p>Nothing is set in stone, and it would be silly for companies to close the door completely, but for the top tier, large firms, they operate almost like schools.</p>
<p>Small companies hire consistently, filling needs and gaps in resourcing. They generally cannot afford to hire a “class” of new people, so there are new hires wandering around all of the time. </p>
<p>Large companies, on the other hand, have application periods and truly do hire a “class” of new employees. Generally, they will have a single start date for, potentially, 500-1,000 new employees worldwide. They may have a training week where all new hires travel to a specific place (most of the time it’s the company’s corporate HQ, but sometimes it is a fun place like an island). </p>
<p>These large companies have a hiring process that starts in August, when they give return offers to their summer rising senior interns. They then have HR go to campuses in September and early October, giving information sessions and holding on-campus interviews. Second round interviews, known as super days, are held, usually at HQ (but sometimes at satellite offices); these interviews are held in mid to late October. Offers go out in late October or early November, and as applicants decline offers, they will get back to the backup candidates throughout November and sometimes into early December. After full time recruitment is done, the summer internship recruitment cycle starts; HR spends December working through some logistics for their new hires and prepping their pitches for the spring. In January, the same cycle begins, except for summer interns; this cycle continues until April.</p>
<p>Do all companies follow this mold? No. Is it completely impossible to get a job at a top company outside of this cycle? No. But is it easy or likely that someone will get such a job? Also no. There are a decent number of companies that do not accept entry-level applications from outside of the college recruitment process, and there are also a decent number of companies that “accept” applications from outside the recruitment process but don’t really bother looking at them.</p>
<p>It is still worth looking into top firms, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, many have already closed the door for this cycle. It may seem short-sighted, but they are okay taking that risk when they have upwards of 100,000 people apply for 500 jobs. Second, the best jobs are not necessarily with top firms; it is perfectly fine and acceptable to work at a second or third tier company - you can get just as good of experience, potentially in different areas, though you will have a harder time getting into b-school if you choose to get an MBA. Third, it is a mistake to wait until after graduating to begin looking for a job.</p>
<p>Thank you! Just PM’d you!</p>
<p>OP, is there a reason that your daughter does not want to take a position at the financial services firm with which she interned? And has your daughter taken full advantage of her college’s career office? They would be best positioned to help her and give her advice.</p>
<p>After much networking last summer, she received a lot of advice to go into consulting to get a broad experience before narrowing her field. Unfortunately she is overloaded with work (two full majors) and will finish one semester early. Her summer was maxed out with work and she didn’t get her resume and other things ready. Her school has a b-school and the students in the program are well-oiled for the early recruiting. Her issue is time. I will suggest she networks in December with people in the top consulting firms that she knows. Perhaps she will be an outlier or have missed the opportunity.</p>
<p>I did not realize that your daughter was not in the business school. Maybe that is why she was not aware of how recruiting in the consulting industry works. </p>
<p>Is it absolutely necessary to graduate early? Or can she use the career office after she graduates ? I think it would be even harder to break into consulting once she is off campus</p>
<p>chrisw gave a lot of good advice. Jobs with top consulting firms are already very hard to get. Not participating in their recruiting process makes it even harder.</p>
<p>Consulting will give broad experience. As chrisw pointed out, your daughter can consider a lower tier firm although the top 3 are big feeders to top MBA programs. If she gets an interview, make sure she practices lots of cases.</p>
<p>Thank you. Great advice here!</p>