How difficult it is to enter in a consulting company 1 year after graduating?

Question

Hi everyone,

I graduated almost 6 months ago (dec 2017) and I'm still trying to get a job in consulting. I applied before and after graduating, but unsuccessfully. Therefore, I accepted a job offer as a sales analyst (entry level).

Despite having a job already, I'm still applying for a role in consulting but I am not sure whether I am still attractive or not for a consulting firm. I really hope to land some interviews in September, because if not I feel like it will become more and more difficult to enter with time passing bye.

Answer 1

Hi,

You can enter the consulting company at any stage. There might be many factors that might have influenced the decision when you were a graduate:

University brand
Internships you had before
The office you are applying to (Competition, Languages, work permit, etc)
Extracurricular activities:

Launching your own venture and entrepreneurial activities (even failing them is fine)
Grants / scholarships - even better if related to some research or entrepreneurial projects
Projects for companies - you may consider doing a free project for the company or a startup or writing a case that future grads will use
Volunteer / social activities. I would aim at the activities where you can have a leadership role. Organizing some club may work as well.
Case Competitions-especially the ones organized by your target company
Researches / articles published in well-known sources

Now, as far as I understand you still don't have that much of work experience so you will be assessed both by your graduate activities and by your career moves so far:

Brand of the company
Career growth and achievements
Postgraduate extracurricular activities

It is hard to asses in detail without seeing your resume.

Best,

Answer 2

Hi,
Can you specify what stage of the process you're strugglin with ? Are you invited to interviews and struggling to succeed during the case studies, or are you struggling to go throught initial screening ?
In any case, this is not a problem to apply 6 month to 1 year later. Actually there is no real timeframe for junior position.
Best

Benjamin

Answer 3

Hi ,

given your answer to my question in the comments, I confirm there is no probleme applying after 1 year. The only "down" I see, is that it will be difficult to value the year spent in industry and you may start again as junior.

If you really want to join consulting and struggle to get an interview :

- leverage your personal network to get introduced to HR by someone from inside

- don't hesitate to reach out consultant whith who you could share connexion throught linkedin (even senior !)

Once you get invited to the interview, make sure you're ready :)
Best

Benjamin