I am interviewing with top consultacies (MBB & tier 2) in one office but I can't join now even if I get the offer. So I plan to get the offer and then decline (I want to see if I can get the offer). Should I stop the interview process?
I might want to apply for another office at the same firm a year later. Would getting an offer now and then decline a better sign for future recruitment for another office?
There's no need to decline if you get an offer. The MBB's (and likely some T2's) are very flexible with start dates. Once you get an offer, you can then discuss a start date that works for you with the recruiting team. This is from personal experience, there was no pushback at all.
Definitely do not recommend going through the interview process just to decline if you plan to apply again anytime soon - you would be wasting everyone's time (including yours) and it wouldn't reflect well on you
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Hi there,
I recently helped a candidate who will join in 1+ year after getting the offer from McK, so if you can join later on, that should not be a problem for at least some firms.
I would recommend to align with the firms in advance though, explaining the situation, to see if a later start would work well or whether it would make more sense to postpone the overall process once you are ready to join.
I agree with SJ that if you are planning to reject the offers for sure, it doesn’t really make sense to go through the process now.
Hope this helps,
Francesco
Interesting. I wouldn't do that. Several reasons:
So rather stop it where you are, explain to them politely the situation and tell them you're planning on reapplying and you're very excited about joining in the future.
Hi there,
At the end of the day, you need to respect these people's time. If you aren't planning to accept the offer, you need to cancel the interviews.
Now, if you would like to work at these firms 1 year from now, let them know! Tell them you've received an offer, want that experience, but would like to start in 1 year. See what they say.
If this turns out to be the case, you need to let your current firm know of this, or else you're wasting their time+money too! (It takes about 1 year for an employee to start “paying the company back” in terms of training investment).
Hi!
I'd recommend clarifying this situation with HR and asking for a suggestion on how to proceed, i.e. postpone the recruiting process or continue and delay the entry date.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Anto
Moving your start date is possible. But not your office. So this plan doesn't work.
In any case, you should be upfront with the MBB, and it doesn't make sense to be recruiting now for a position you won't accept. Also, sometimes life gets in the way, and you never know you may need (or want) to ask for another delay in your start date. There's a relevant risk you will mismanage this.
If you know already that you are not going to join, then why bother with the interview process. This is not professional.
Otherwise, you can work with HR and delay your start date or delay the interview process. This will come with some risk, which am sure you know.
All the best.
I would recommend that you should interview when you are ready to join.
If you get an offer now, and then join a year later, your level of entry is aligned with your level today. If you apply 1 year letter, you can potentially enter at a more senior level due to the additional year of experience you have gained.
I might join another firm now as they pushing me to sign the offer. If I plan to take MBB, then I prefer my start date to be one year later, which obviously wont work. Thanks a lot for your tips.
So, there are a few options and obviously none are ideal, but they're doable and happen all the time: 1) Take the boutique/T2 offer and renege or do a very short stint (even just a month or so) if you end up getting MBB. This is acceptable, just bring it up to the MBB HR team when they do background checks and obviously, don't give notice at the T2 until you've cleared all the checks at the MBB (s). 2) Discuss with the MBB teams about a potential start date several months in the future - again, they're usually pretty flexible if they find a good candidate. Obviously, entry level roles (MBA, PhD, undergrad) all traditionally recruit while still in school and cannot join the firms right away. So, this shouldn't be a problem at all. 3) If you know for certain there is no way you can join MBB if you get an offer now and cannot get a later start date from recruiting, consider withdrawing from the interview process and apply again when you're ready to join.
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