Hi Bill,

Thanks for joining the Consulting Forum!

I think you’re asking two related questions:
1. do consulting firms have a rigid hiring process?, and
2. is it possible to delay your start time? For example, apply in January with the intention of starting in July-August

I’ll give you my thoughts below, and I’d be interested to hear from others.

[b]1. Hiring process[/b]

Each consulting firm will have a slightly different hiring policy. However, take McKinsey as an example.

I understand McKinsey hires in two different ways:
[list=1][*][b]The milk round[/b] – They have an annual [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_round]milk round[/url]. That is, they have a formal hiring process targetted at top students from top universities.[/*]
[*][b]Experienced hires[/b] – they also interview experienced hires, and I understand that these interviews are done in batches. So, if you apply today and they like your application, they will likely hold your application until they have enough suitable applicants to do a batch of interviews. However, it is worth noting that if you apply as an experienced hire during the milk round then your application (even if quite impressive) may fall through the cracks.[/*][/list]

[b]2. Delayed starting time[/b]

If your intention is to delay your starting time, then I would suggest that you hold this information to yourself until you get an offer. Interviewing with consulting firms is very competitive so your primary objective should be to get offers. If you get an offer, then you have bargaining power to negotiate a suitable start date.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Tom