Offer Letter Amidst Hiring Freeze

Hi there,

1) Hello - have you seen or is this technically possibly with Big-4 to issue offer letter despite hiring freeze?

If you get an offer, technically a company is not in a hiring freeze for that position. However, you might get a delayed starting date if they don’t have slots currently available.

2) How common it is to have offer letter with future joining date of 4-5 months? 

Not uncommon. In my case, I joined 5 months after receiving the offer (I might have started 2 months later but I chose to postpone).

3) And can they withdraw offer letter also once it’s issued?

It is unlikely if you have signed a contract. 

In general, rescinding a signed offer would create a major reputational issue and I see it as unlikely for a few reasons:

• It could have legal consequences for the firm if the offer was signed, depending on the country.
• If they have staffing issues, it makes more sense for them to ask to join later than to cancel the offer, as eventually they will need consultants. If that happens, it would be up to you to accept the later starting date or withdraw.
• In the extreme case that they have structural issues (ie not expect to grow anymore for a while) and are unable to postpone the starting date (which is very unlikely for a top consulting firm), I believe they would rather adopt the strategy to hire and layoff people after the probation period, to avoid the reputational and possible legal issue.

4) Lastly, from partner round on an avg how much time company takes to release offer letter? 

In most cases, you should hear back within one week.

5) Do I need to follow up for offer or wait for them to call me up post partner round?

If you would like to follow up, I recommend waiting one week after the interview.

Good luck!

Francesco

Please remember Deloitte has half a million employees. HAlF a million!

If a city like Detroit shrinks, does that mean people only left? Of course not. There is emigration and there is immigration. Same happens with the labor force (recession/depression). And same happens with a massive massive company.

You “can't” have a 500k employee freeze worldwide across all division.

Your questions:

how common it is to have offer letter with future joining date of 4-5 months? 

Quite common.

and can they withdraw offer letter also once it’s issued ?

Yup. They try not to but there is historical precedent. 

Lastly, from partner round on an avg how much time company takes to release offer letter? Do I need to follow up for offer or wait for them to call me up post partner round

If they verbally or in writing said “you have an offer”, then it shouldn't take too long (1-2 weeks) at which point you can follow-up.

If they didn't tell you that you have an offer yet, it could take a day…or 3 months. It just depends. You could follow-up after 3 weeks in this case.

Yes, they do still issue offers during hiring freezes, though it's rather an exception, and it tends to happen for more senior or specialised roles. 

In terms of starting dates, I've even seen starting dates 18 months in advance. 4-5 months is actually close to the typical average. It's an exception to start next week (a candidate of mine actually just had this situation with Bain Italy). 

Do they withdraw offers? I've heard of this as rumours, but never actually witnessed it myself. So it's a very, very rare occurrence if it does happen. 

Best,
Cristian

Yes, if they decide they are freezing hires until June, of course they can hire for July :)