Breaking: Bain, EY-Parthenon delay MBA start dates for 2024 graduates

In the ever-shifting landscape of career planning and employment timelines, MBA graduates heading to top consulting firms are facing a curious mix of uncertainty and opportunity. In short, MBA start dates are in flux.

Read on for insight not only into the delayed start dates for incoming MBA consultants, but also some of the innovative options and opportunities being provided to them in the interim.

In short, MBA start dates are being pushed back, and not only does this affect graduating MBAs who already have offers in hand, but also affects experienced hires, who may see a depressed hiring environment in the near term as firms instead fill ongoing staffing needs with MBA hires who have yet to begin their roles.

The end of this write-up serves as a short guide for those looking to enter the consulting field, offering insights and advice on how to remain competitive and proactive in a time when the traditional paths seem to be less “traditional” than ever. Whether you're considering the direct trajectory of consulting post-graduation or a lateral move into the field, we hope to offer you a beacon of strategy and hope in a time of significant career navigation challenges.

 

 

McKinsey

For those of you looking at McKinsey and wondering what’s going on with new hire MBA start dates, the answer is simple – not a lot. McKinsey start dates for new MBA hires were released in mid-March and most people got a preferred start date. We’ve heard from students who are slated to start as early as late-May (immediately post-graduation). We’ve also heard from some that they got very late start dates because they want to take time after graduation to travel, learn a new language, or just relax before hitting the ground running. The important takeaway though is that McKinsey start dates for new MBA hires were not materially impacted.

Looking internally, we’ve heard from many current employees that workloads vary drastically by practice, industry, and team. Many of the top performing consultants are getting staffed and working what we could consider to be “normal” hours (read: 60+ hours per week, including travel). That said, McKinsey seems to have many underperforming consultants “on the beach,” shifting work to its top performers. All in, while workloads seem to vary based on location and individual performance, new hires are getting preferred start dates.

Bain

Start dates for Bain were released in early April and most dates that came out for new MBA hires were later than expected. In a huge shift this year, the firm did not ask its new hires for preferred start dates.

At Bain, most new MBA hires will start between October and the end of the year, but there will be quite a few hires whose start date will get pushed back to Q1 2025.

Importantly, however, Bain has presented an alternative plan for incoming consultants. See below for the quick details.

• Work at a not-for-profit organization: Bain has a deep roster of not-for-profit clients and has offered incoming consultants an attractive monthly stipend to go work at one of these organizations until they start with the firm. Importantly, incoming consultants are not mandated to work only for a Bain not-for-profit client, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that their future employer is willing to help them find a landing spot if this is incoming employee’s desired path.
• Join a language immersion learning program: Some incoming consultants are focused on learning a new language while they wait to start at Bain. The consultancy has offered future employees a monthly pay package in the five figures to enter a language immersion plan and start building an additional language competency while they wait for their start date.
• Gain employment at a corporation or other for-profit entity of your choice: For those who don’t want to pursue either of the first two options, Bain has also offered to pay future employees a healthy stipend to work at a for-profit organization of their choice (paid or pro-bono). Although the job market for standard corporate finance or corporate strategy jobs is far from robust, some incoming Bain consultants are searching for venture capital or startup roles to fill their time before entering the firm.
• Do nothing: The last option is for Bain new hires to do nothing. Now, for incoming consultants who think this is a great time to shave 2-3 strokes off their golf game, that’s fine with Bain. The downside is that the firm will not pay employees to take this option BUT are happy to hold their announced start date in place and let employees start at the specified date.

BCG

BCG MBA start dates will generally fall between July and September but some hires will have their start dates pushed back to Q1 2025.

The specific start date will depend on the office you're going to; specifically, how many sponsored MBAs that will be returning to that particular office. For example, if there are a lot of sponsored MBA graduates rejoining BCG's New York office, they will receive priority over new MBA hires in that location. This could result in the start date of an MBA new hire in that office being pushed back.

EY-Parthenon

Of all the large consultancies, EY-Parthenon (EYP) appears to be one of the more challenging to nail down. Some of our sources have communicated that the firm will likely not bring a new class of consultants in to start until early 2025, at the soonest.

We know that last year’s incoming class (MBA class of 2023) is just now getting onboarded, and some have not even started that process yet. Let’s think about this from a timeline perspective –

• EYP just onboarded a new cohort of new hires from the MBA Class of 2023.
• They also have a full slate of interns set to start this summer (MBA Class of 2025).
• Next, and only next, do they plan for their next class of incoming full-time hires (the MBA Class of 2024).

So, realistically, start dates for the MBA Class of 2024 probably won’t hit until early to mid 2025. As such, we are already hearing from candidates who accepted EYP offers that they are looking for job opportunities elsewhere to fill that employment gap.

The candidates we have heard from are searching for corporate strategy roles, consulting jobs at boutique firms, and some are even looking to leave consulting all together. The challenge? Tech, financial services, and broader corporate sectors, which encompass many of the areas that these candidates are searching in, are experiencing challenging hiring environments as well.

West Monroe

Management Consulted has learned that West Monroe is rescinding some offers for students, primarily at the undergraduate entry level.

Conclusion: What does this mean for me?

If you are a current or prospective MBA student, this could mean that firms reduce the size of future intern classes, which could make the internship recruiting process more challenging.

It also means that the full-time hiring environment for the MBA Class of 2025 (which will take place in Aug/Sep 2024) will be incredibly challenging.

With all that said, the best candidate in each class always gets an offer! Join our Black Belt program to position yourself for success no matter what the macro environment is.

If you are a lateral hire thinking about a pivot, opportunities may look bleak right now. With such a backup in onboarding, we expect some firms to reduce their lateral hire opportunities. Recognize, however, that every firm continues to look for opportunistic hires and, at the end of the day, each firm’s greatest resource is its people. In fact, we share regular job opportunities in our email newsletter – sign up now if haven’t already.

If you have your eyes set on consulting, don’t give up! Just realize that this might be a process that requires patience, persistence, and a better strategy than your competition – which is where our Black Belt program can give you the leg up.