Hi community,
I was wondering if anyone has some insides on the current situation of starting dates. My offer starts in January at an MBB in Middle Europe and I wonder if there is any information if starting dates are being pushed again at the moment or if the situation got better and people actually start out now.
Thanks in advance!
Hi there,
It's a fair question that a lot of people are asking. I think it's far more more unlikely than it is likely that January dates get pushed back, as the shock of Covid has already hit. However, the possibility is always there. You should be safe.
These odds also dimish over time. I.e. It is more likely that Sep-Dec 2019 start dates are pushed back than Jan-Mar 2021 ones are. However, I do still believe pipelines have stabilised across most offices.
However, make use of your time! Assume you'll have a delay and you won't be disappointed
Send out feelers to see if you can snag an internship or part-time job...the extra experience, income, and backup, are all good to have.
Prepare for the GMAT/GRE (if higher education is any future possibility) - Igiven you've graduated recently, preparing for the GMAT/GRE will be much easier than if you do it later. Trust me! I took the GRE my senior year of college and did very well, but struggled significantly with my GMAT 5 years later. Testing skills get rusty!
Data Science is a growing, important, and marketable field that I highly recommend gaining skills in. You may not have to get a full certificate (though it is an option). There are many one-off classes that you can group together (i.e. a database design/structure class, SQL class, Python/Ruby, Tableau, Data insights/visualization, etc.)
Attend an academy to hone your skills - There are lots of academies out there that prepare you for the real world. Not a bad use of time to get skilled up so that you can hit the ground running at Bain and rise up the ranks even faster! (Feel free to PM me if you'd like to know of a few)
Hi Anonymous,
Generally speaking it's mostly speculation for now, since nobody can predict how Covid will develop over the next couple of months, which is one of the key drivers for the economic development and not a bad proxy for consulting demand in general. At the end of the day consulting firms are profit-oriented companies, and they need to balance client demand and consultants supply - so it will mainly depend on how many projects are to be staffed around your proposed start date.
However, if you have a specialization around Digital Health, IT, ... and similar trending topics, demand is extremely high for the moment and people are even pushed to start earlier.
Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!
Robert
Dear A,
My congratulation to your offer first of all!
To answer your question, it really depends on the company. I know that, for example, that for Strategy& the offers have been postponed once again with a statrting date in Spring 2021. As for McKinsey, the situation is pretty opposite. Those, who have been postponed their offers for January 2021 where actually contacted most recently, whether they cn start in September or in October this year.
BCG and Bain sticks to the previous statemement, if they were postponing there offers to 2021, then dates remains the same.
If you need specific advice on the offers in the Middle East, feel free to drop me a line, since I have many mentees placed over there and have the latest market insights.
Best,
André
(editiert)
Hi, it depends on the office and on the firm. However, some positions are being opened in these weeks
Best,
Antonello
