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Going downhill since consulting internship

career consulting internship
Recent activity on May 03, 2018
1 Answer
2.7 k Views
Anonymous A asked on May 03, 2018

Hello,

I'm hoping to get some consultants perspective as a hiring decision maker.

I recently finished an internship in a top tier strategy consulting firm and didn't get a full time offer (didn't pass the full time interview following the internship). I was naive in thinking I would get the full time offer and did not apply to any other firm during the January recruiting cycle.

Now the best job I could get is a B2B sales job. They recognize my consulting experience and are offering me a salary as good as consulting, but I don't see a sustainable career here. I'm just thinking now that the foolish mistake of not applying to other jobs in January has put me in this downhill position? Should I take this sales job and try consulting again after a year or two or should I take my time and wait for next recruiting cycle (it would be 8 months of no work experience since my internship if I wait until the next recruitment cycle).

Thank you,

Anonymous

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Best answer
Retired
Expert
replied on May 03, 2018
Former BCG interviewer

Take the job. If you do not have anything else lined up yet and you end up not doing anything meaningful in the next 8 months, then you will be in a weak starting position for your applications.

Also, once you are out of school there is no “recruitment cycle” per se, so you can apply at any point in time. However I would suggest you stay at least a year in a job before changing. If you stay less, you need to be really confident that next job is good for at least 2-3 years (I.e. you do not find yourself in a situation where you leave job 1 after 6 months, join MBB and get counseled out after 1 year - granted this is extremely rare, but it happens).

hope it helps,

andrea

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