Job seeking game plan

Hi there!

Sorry to hear about the context. You're spot on that it's difficult.

All of these questions are great. Let me take them one by one. 

1) What would you recommend to do during this period, in addition to recruitment?

If you really feel you have too much time, you can look into doing some freelance work that is consulting-related. This will help elevate your profile, plus you will increase your network in the process.

But make sure to ask yourself whether you actually have that much free time. Most people are swamped already with the prep on its own. 

2) What is an “acceptable” career gap? Is 6 months an appropriate target to find a new role?

There is no specific time. It's all about how you tell your story. If you've got a track record and then you have nothing for 6 months, but you explain that you took this time for yourself to reflect on what you want to do next, travelled, connected with family, learned to play guitar, whatever, that's totally acceptable. 

Recruiters are rather more sceptical about people who change roles very often and have career gaps that also occur often and without any sort of explanation. So don't overthink this in your case.

3) I'm starting to apply for lower tiers and big four, as I'm starting to get desperate. The roles are OK but not super interesting (compared to dream firms). Would you recommend having a longer gap to really find a role that is “good enough”, or to start working again soon and continue to accumulate experience, even at a less interested firm? 

Yes, at this point, it's best to get anything and move up in tiers from next year and/or year after that. If the market is bad, it's not the best strategy to be picky. 

Sharing with you a guide you might find useful as you set up your own application strategy:

• Free Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

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Hi there,

1) What would you recommend to do during this period, in addition to recruitment?

It depends on your goals. You can find a few options below:

1. Prepare for the GMAT (in case you want to do an MBA later on)
2. Improve your skills with Excel and PowerPoint
3. Freelance based on a skill you know/want to learn
4. Do an internship in a position that can help you long-term (eg sales)
5. Launch a website you can easily automate
6. Start a blog on a topic you know well
7. Support a local non-profit
8. Travel to a top destination you want to visit

2) What is an “acceptable” career gap? Is 6 months an appropriate target to find a new role?

I would just try to find a job as soon as possible unless you have reasons to delay, without thinking about what is an acceptable gap. If it takes 6 months, then so be it.

3) Would you recommend having a longer gap to really find a role that is “good enough”, or to start working again soon and continue to accumulate experience, even at a less interested firm?

I would apply to all firms interesting to you. Then pick the best offer you find. If you get an offer from a firm and are still waiting to complete the process with another you consider more interesting, you can try to speed up the interview or postpone the deadline to accept the first offer.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

Sharing my POV on your questions:

1) What would you recommend to do during this period, in addition to recruitment?

• Depending on your personal situation and timeline, if I were you i'd try to carve out some time for your own personal interests and priorities (e.g. hobbies, spending time with family/friends)
• I found that with work, especially in consulting, many of these personal interests/hobbies get deprioritized even when they shouldn't

2) What is an “acceptable” career gap? Is 6 months an appropriate target to find a new role?

• Like others have mentioned - there isn't a hard and fast rule on this
• To me, your gap matters less than how strong your previous / relevant experience is
  • i.e. a candidate with a 1 year gap but super strong and relevant experience IMO will stand a better chance vs a candidate with no career gaps but a weak experience/track record

3) I'm starting to apply for lower tiers and big four, as I'm starting to get desperate. The roles are OK but not super interesting (compared to dream firms). Would you recommend having a longer gap to really find a role that is “good enough”, or to start working again soon and continue to accumulate experience, even at a less interested firm? 

• If I were you I'd do a couple of things, if your personal / financial circumstances allowed it
  • Come up with a timeline or ‘hard stop’ where you know you would have to take whatever opportunity there is, even if its the least desirable
  • I would give myself some time to get into a ‘dream’ place, but w.r.t. the above have some guard rails on the time line

Hi there,

1) What would you recommend to do during this period, in addition to recruitment?

• Network
• Get experience elsewhere (pro bono and experiential learning programs, other types of internships/jobs, perosnal projects, courses, etc.)

2) What is an “acceptable” career gap? Is 6 months an appropriate target to find a new role?

There isn't one. This isn't a binary thing. The longer the gap, the worse. There's no “cutoff” here.

Fill this gap by getting experience anywhere and everywhere you can (personally, my “favorite” is pro bono and experiential consulting programs)

3) I'm starting to apply for lower tiers and big four, as I'm starting to get desperate. The roles are OK but not super interesting (compared to dream firms). Would you recommend having a longer gap to really find a role that is “good enough”, or to start working again soon and continue to accumulate experience, even at a less interested firm?

Beggars can't be choosers. Everyone wants MBB. Only some will get it. That's how the world works. You're allowed to dream, but you shouldn't bank on it.

you should be applying to 100 firms/roles and take the best you can get now. You don't get to tell MBB when they want you…they decide that! And, the more experience you build, the more they will want you.

Hello,

To answer your questions:

What would you recommend to do during this period, in addition to recruitment?

•  Networking
• See if you can find internships, freelance work, or volunteer work in the meantime

What is an “acceptable” career gap? Is 6 months an appropriate target to find a new role?

I agree with Ian that there is not a strict cutoff here. Obviously the shorter the gap, the better, but if the job market isn’t great, there’s nothing you can do about that either. It’s all going to depend on the story you tell about it.

Would you recommend having a longer gap to really find a role that is “good enough”, or to start working again soon and continue to accumulate experience, even at a less interested firm? 

I always recommend candidates to apply widely, and take roles that are “good enough” even if they aren’t the dream role. Waiting on the dream role to show up is a huge gamble to take. Even if your entry point isn’t quite where you want it to be, you don’t have to work there forever! You’ll learn valuable skills, build up a network, and eventually see better opportunities open up as you gain experience.

While you don't need to take the first offer you get, you should be applying to a broad base of decent firms. And then take the best offer you can get. This is how it works.

Of course you should apply from most to least preferred, but there shouldn't be much waiting time between them.

Because you are not really chosing between going to MBB or going to Tier 2. You are chosing whether you start next month on a new job, or in 6 months.

I'd say starting next month is better.