1. Usually “ban” is 12 months.

2. You can apply now and again in a year. If you only apply by the end of '23, you are basically wasting one opportunity

3. Consulting firms tend to prefer inexperienced candidates. The more experience you have, the more difficult it becomes to get in.

4. The economy is not going to be better 6 months from now

5. If they reject you because they have a hiring freeze, I doubt they will enforce ban period, as in this case it wasn't your specific CV that was rejected.

Hi there,

You should not make a decision based on what we say here.

You should make a data-based decision based on your networking.

Speak to the people at the office.

If they recommend you apply. Apply. Even better if those chats lead to a referral.

If they recommend you wait…wait.

It's truly that simple!

Hi,

You might as well try and apply to the consulting firms you are interested in. 
 

Yes, hiring has slowed down and the competition for the remaining slots is even higher. But this situation might very well last for the next year or so. So even if you get rejected, your ban period would overlap with the economic downturn. Not sure if holding back with your application trying to time for better market conditions is a safer bet at this point. 
 

Good luck 

I would highly recommend reaching out to people in the office to see what the situation is like. Personally I would recommend waiting as the hiring situation does not look good right now.