I am not sure if I am going crazy but I had checked the Bain London deadline for their associate consultant role and it stated that the deadline was the 6th November. I went to apply and now it says that they have closed. I remember the site saying that they do not look at applications until after the deadline so I am not sure if my eyes have deceived me or not. I have never missed a deadline before and have always made sure to get the dates correct.
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Ex-Bainee in London here.
You're not going crazy — this actually happens more often than you'd think.
HR teams at consulting firms in London are often lean, and sometimes the application portals close earlier than the published deadlines, especially there's internal misalignment. It's frustrating, but not uncommon. In this specific instance, I'd expect them to quickly realize it and then reopen the application if there is a date explicitly stated somewhere externally.
It’s definitely worth reaching out to the recruiting team directly — just a short, polite note explaining the situation and asking if there’s still a way to submit your application. There’s no harm in asking, and sometimes they’ll reopen it or flag your profile for future cycles.
Hope it helps!
Strange, indeed.
Try reaching out to the recruiter to clarify.
It does happen sometimes that firms choose to close earlier than the deadline because they have already registered the number of applications they were targeting. But, typically, if they do that, they hint at it in the application description.
Best,
Cristian
Hey there :)
You’re not imagining it, Bain London did close earlier than expected this year. Even though they usually say they review after the deadline, they sometimes shut applications early if they receive too many. It’s happened before, so you’re definitely not the only one caught off guard.
best, Alessa :)
