Applying to McKinsey, Bain, BCG with 1 Year of Finance Experience

Question

I work in a product group (ECM or DCM, not traditional IB coverage group) at a top bulge bracket bank in New York like Goldman Sachs or Citi or Bank of America. I graduated with honors from an Ivy and have 1 year of experience.

I am not interested in the exit opportunities from my current job and during my senior year in college wanted to recruit for the big consulting firms but was too late. I believe after talking to mentors that consulting is the right step for me to take.

I would like to apply to MBB as soon as I can but worry about the current market conditions for landing a job as a lateral hire. I am willing to wait until 2025 to do so.

My question is do you think it is possible to apply with my background successfully and what would be the best time to try? Is 2025 going to be better environment for me to apply?

Answer 1

Hi there,

1) My question is do you think it is possible to apply with my background successfully and what would be the best time to try?

From what you shared, your profile looks fine. Whether you can get an offer depends on:

The recruiting situation when you apply
Whether you manage to get invitations from all MBB (key things for this: CV, Cover and referrals - more on that here)
Whether you have a good preparation for interviews

You cannot control #1, but you can control #2 and #3. Thus, I would focus on them.

2) Is 2025 going to be better environment for me to apply?

This depends on a number of factors, including the US elections and international stability. It is very difficult to make predictions now.

If your application doesn’t work out, in most cases you can apply again after 12 months. So, depending on when you are planning to apply in 2025, there might not be a significant difference between applying now + applying again in 2025 in case of a rejection, compared to just waiting for a possible better job market.

For this reason, I would recommend looking for a referral and, unless the person referring you mentions that your target office is not recruiting much, applying when it fits your timeline.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

It depends on how urgent you want to move more than on anything else.

Your resume would easily make the cut in normal market conditions and I tend to say even now.

However, no one can predict how 2025 is going to pan out. Until recently everyone including recruiters was quite positive about their outlook, but now not so sure anymore…

Cheers,

Florian