London entry-level position immediate start

Question

Good evening,

Upon receiving an offer for a job at a strategy consulting firm in London (think MBB + the other top ones), which happens around this time of the year, the default start date is the following September, with many people also opting for later start dates, e.g. the following March.

However, I was wondering if it is possible to actually start immediately (or one or two months after the offer), for those that are not in university but are already working somewhere else (or unemployed) so are available right away? Does anyone know of any such cases? Or are they very strict in separating people in their respective graduate intakes?

Thanks a lot for anyone taking time to answer, really appreciated.

Answer 1

Congrats in 1st place for your offer!

The starting dates are normally configured like this to constitute "classes" of Business Analysts and Associates, that start all together, have performance evaluations at the same time, etc.

However, this is the general case, given also that, as you commented, some people are still at school. There are many exceptions -in my year in Mckinsey, 3 of them- and you should just schedule a call with HR and expose the case.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Hi,
there are intakes for new hired every 2-3 months and you can usually decide with HR your favourite

Best,
Antonello

Answer 3

Hi,

In London I believe you can start immediately since there is no lack of projects. However, the bottlenecks might be the training dates. Thus you need to check with HR

Best

Answer 4

Hi,

You should definitely get in touch with HR and ask if an earlier start date is possible. Most consulting companies in London also hire consultants all year round (this is needed due to project requirements).

I personally started working at BCG and another boutique consulting company in London during the off-cycle period.

Best,

Deniz