Situational advice needed...

Question

Hi everyone, I've just started working at a Tier 2 firm 3 weeks ago... and just heard back from one of the MBB firms that I've been selected for an interview! As I had submitted my online application 4-5 months ago this comes as a surprise as I thought I had not been selected. GIven this, I have 2 questions I was hoping to get thoughts on:

1. What kind of reason can you give to take time off to interview when you are new to a firm? Doctor visits can only cover 2 separate fridays at best I imagine...

2. More importantly, if the interviewer asks about my current work situation, what is the best way to explain why I am interviewing 3 weeks after starting at a new job? The reality is because of the delay in being selected for the interview, but I imagine saying that would reflect badly both on myself and the interviewer's firm...

Answer 1

For #1, personal days should be enough to cover the 2-3 Friday rounds - it helps if after first round you try to slow down the process/time between interviews. For #2, I don’t see any drawback in being honest: your job hunting process started 4-5 months ago, probably earlier. You received a satisfactory offer and therefore accepted it. MBB is your dream job and that’s why you accepted to be interviewed despite having just started, that said I would negotiate on start date and tell them that you’d like to work at current firm for at least a year to not burn bridges, to not have to repay for bonus/relocation etc...

hope it helps,

andrea

Answer 2

Hi,

1) You don't need more than 2 day (3 in case of Bain). Also, the interview process takes quite a lot of time, so it will be pretty smooth for you.

2) You can honestly describe the situation since it is not your fault. That's also totally fine that you are still interviewing with MBB.

So you should prepare for the interviews and don't think too much about this.

Best