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mid-career gap to MBB

mid-career Transition from industry
Neue Antwort am 19. Feb. 2022
7 Antworten
1,2 T. Views
Anonym A fragte am 18. Feb. 2022

Hi there, 

I'm currently on a gap year (I'm hoping it wont last more than a year; its been 3 months) for family caregiving reasons. Prior to this I was planning to make a jump from public sector strategy and planning into consulting. Is it still possible now after the gap, will recruiters and interviewers understand? I'm worried that my chances are jeopardised as a result.

I went to a target school and had a high-impact, prestigious public sector job interacting w/ senior management and political leaders regularly.

Any advice greatly appreciated! 

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Adi
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 18. Feb. 2022
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

This is totally fine and many people do this. Just explain your situation well and make the story connect. Talk about how you are using/used the gap year to balance personal situations with improving your skills.

 

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Pedro
Experte
antwortete am 19. Feb. 2022
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

Yep, agree with the others. In general this is not an issue, and consutling firms are quite understanding of sabbatical time. 

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Charlotte
Experte
antwortete am 18. Feb. 2022
Empathic coach, former McKinsey Engagement Manager |Secure offers from top consulting firms

Dear candidate,

 

by all means you will be able to recover your gap time. It means a little bit of extra investment and maybe being more open to applying to more firms than you otherwise would to give you extra options, but you are not the first person who would secure a top consulting job after a gap year. We all have to work for many decades and good recruiters know to put all things into perspective. I would just advice that you explain it well and craft your story well once you get to apply again and also sharpen your skills in the meantime. Keep doing cases or other application prep so you stay fit and rest assured all will go well. All the best also for your personal situation.

Best regards.

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Ken
Experte
antwortete am 18. Feb. 2022
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

I don't see any problem where recruiters and MBBs will completely underhand.  It's worth noting that although MBBs are renowned for long work hours and challenging lifestyle constraints, they tend to be very understanding about personal sabbaticals for various reasons including family. Good luck! 

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Moritz
Experte
Content Creator
bearbeitete eine Antwort am 21. Feb. 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | 90min sessions with FREE exercises & videos

Hey there,

Yes it is generally possible. Just pick up where you left off, start to network, and get back into the game!

From all I have seen, it is perfectly appropriate to have a gap for all sorts of reasons in your CV - caregiving is obviously one of them. Even if you had just traveled for a year I wouldn't think anything bad of it (it's 2022, things have changed…).

With regards to the specific circumstances, I would make sure to show that they no longer apply and that you are ready to embark on a very time consuming career path.
 

Hope this helps a bit! Best of luck!

(editiert)

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Ian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 19. Feb. 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Yes it's still possible to switch (just harder). As long as current conditions hold up (immense demand) you're especially ok. 

Ideally you worked before this gap period? If you're coming straight from university with no work experience you're extremely unlikely to get MBB. You'll have to work your way up with other experiences.

If you can do some work on the side (part time, your own business, pro bono projects, etc.) I would do that in order to mitigate the impact of a gap year.

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Clara
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 19. Feb. 2022
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Not at all, particularly 3 months (this gap is so small that can perfectly be holidays between jobs, most likely at this point this wouldn´t even generate questions from recruiters). 

Cheers, 

Clara

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