Looking for a job or internship in the months ahead? Get prepared by learning about some common recruiting timelines for the many industries that recruit on campus. Our Employer & Alumni Relations Team has compiled some helpful overviews in the dropdown menus below.

Please keep in mind that these timelines are general outlines and some firms recruit outside of the traditional window for the industry.

Finance

Early recruiting in finance has evolved significantly over the years. Firms are increasingly recognizing the importance of securing top talent and maintaining a competitive edge in the market, leading them to initiate recruitment processes over a year in advance of a start date. There are now various entry points beyond the traditional junior summer internship pathway. Early identification (early ID) programs have become crucial for networking and understanding industry expectations. This trend emphasizes how important it is for students to proactively prepare for the recruitment process early in their academic journey, with some students engaging as early as the second semester of their first year. Take a look below at a typical timeline: 

2024 Timeline

  • January–March 2024

    • Networking

      • Employers begin hosting in-person and virtual campus recruitment events, such as info sessions and coffee chats, to promote upcoming roles, diversity programs, and timelines.

    • Early Insights & DEIB Program Applications

      • Employers start opening applications for first-year and sophomore exploration programs, as well as their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) student programs.

    • Applications & Campus Recruiting

      • Some larger institutions and boutique firms will start to open their applications for 2025 revenue generating roles such as investment banking, sales & trading, asset & wealth management, private equity, and capital markets. However, to stay competitive with larger organizations, some firms will open all of their applications early.

      • These firms will start to interview quickly after the applications open, so it’s important to watch the application open dates and apply as soon as you can. 

  • March–May 2024

    • Applications

      • Larger institutions will begin opening applications for non-revenue generating 2025 roles, like HR, operations, marketing, and technology.

      • Boutique and smaller firms start to open applications for 2025 internships.

    • Interviews & Offers

      • First-round, superdays, and final interviews will be held on a rolling basis throughout this period. Anticipate offers to be extended by late spring or sooner.

  • May–July 2024

    • Applications

      • Boutique and smaller firms start to open applications for 2025 roles.

    • Interviews & Offers 

      • Organizations will continue reviewing applications and schedule interviews.

  • July–September 2024

    • Interviews & Offers 

      • Organizations will continue reviewing applications and scheduling interviews on a need basis. 

      • Larger firms will start to wrap up recruiting for some roles by the end of summer.

  • September–December 2024

    • Campus Recruiting 

      • Organizations engage in on-campus recruiting events like career fairs and industry showcases. They also host coffee chats and info sessions to promote upcoming cycle timelines and early ID programs.

      • Some firms may continue to focus on full-time hiring for 2025. 

      • Some larger firms will begin promoting roles for 2026.

    • Interviews & Offers 

      • Interviews and offer letters for 2025 will continue to go out until the end of the year.

The consulting industry adheres to a fairly structured annual recruiting timeline and process. Recruiting timelines in consulting firms can vary based on factors such as the organization’s size, focus areas, geographic location, global market conditions, and overall business strategy. Despite these variables, several common trends can be observed across the industry.

Typical Timeline

January–February:

  • Many large consulting firms, such as MBB (McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company) and The Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC), launch recruiting initiatives in the spring. These initiatives typically focus on early career exploration as well as diversity and inclusion programs. These companies announce specific initiatives and timelines aimed at undergraduate students, with a focus on diversity, leadership, or skill development, mainly for the upcoming summer.

    • Diversity Recruitment Initiatives: MBB and The Big Four open applications for these initiatives and host specific events to attract diverse candidates, such as networking receptions, coffee chats, info sessions, or workshops. Some small and boutique companies also offer similar programming on a smaller scale and may visit campuses to host events and attend diversity recruiting showcases.

    • Early Recruitment Pipeline Programs: These programs offer students (first-years and sophomores) the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, exposure to the industry, and a potential pathway to securing a full-time position after graduation (intern conversion). Deadlines for some of these programs may open as early as January and may extend until early March. Examples from larger firms include PwC’s Career Discovery program and Connect with McKinsey.

    • On-Campus Networking Opportunities: Students may have opportunities to network with professionals from larger, mid-sized, and smaller consulting firms through spring career fairs and showcases, alumni events, or virtual networking sessions. Larger consulting companies host virtual and smaller in-person events with student organizations, in their offices, or during recruiting kickoffs on campus but may not attend larger events.

February–April:

  • Deadlines for submitting internship applications for the upcoming summer at smaller consulting firms may fall during this timeframe. Candidates who pass the initial screening may be invited for interviews, which usually include case interviews or behavioral assessments.

  • Offers to participate in diversity recruiting and early identification (early ID) programs at MBB firms are extended to selected candidates. 

  • Final Decisions: Candidates who receive internship offers typically have a period to consider and accept or decline the offer.

June–August:

  • Applications for 2025 internships and full-time roles at large consulting firms open throughout the summer, starting around late June or early July. Some applications may open earlier than anticipated, while others may experience delays as timelines are finalized or adapted. 

  • Boutique and smaller firms will also open their full-time applications later in the summer.

September–October:

  • MBB, The Big Four, and other large companies conclude most of their internship and full-time recruiting by August. Many will extend that year’s intern cohort full-time offers as companies are invested in intern conversion.

  • Some mid-sized and smaller consultancies will continue to recruit during the fall through campus coffee chats, company presentations, workshops, and career fairs. These firms will follow up by conducting their first round of interviews on campus as well.

November–December:

  • Recruitment for full-time positions at mid-sized and boutique/small firms persists, with second or final (superdays) interviews and networking events focusing on candidates who have recently graduated from an undergraduate program.

  • Offers for full-time positions are extended to selected undergraduate candidates during this time as well.

Rolling Recruitment

Some consulting firms do not follow traditional timelines and may have a rolling recruitment process, accepting applications and conducting interviews on a continuous basis. They may also have multiple recruiting cycles throughout the year, rather than just one season.

General Consulting Tips

  • Pay close attention to the employers you are interested in. Follow them on LionSHARE to receive email alerts. Make sure to complete your LionSHARE profile and set your preferences to receive our industry newsletters. The consulting newsletters contain information about events, job opportunities, workshops, and resources.

  • Check the websites of firms you’re interested in frequently for updated information about their deadlines, office hours, and interview days. Some larger consulting firms have their own Columbia pages, such as McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group, so make sure you check those pages because some deadlines differ from university to university. Also, when deadlines are posted, be sure to apply as soon as possible. Recruiters start to review applications quickly.

  • To practice for your case interviews, use our premium resource Management Consulted. This premium resource, provided free to Columbia undergraduate students and alumni, helps you better understand consulting, prepare for case interviews, and sharpen your math and finance skills. Explore our library of tools.

TIMELINES FOR SPECIFIC EMPLOYERS

MCKINSEY (Application opens July 1, 2024 )

To learn more about McKinsey & Company and keep an eye out for upcoming events and key dates, check out McKinsey’s Columbia University and Barnard College Website.

BAIN

To learn more about Bain & Company and keep track of upcoming deadlines and events, visit Columbia University Website.

BCG

To learn more about job opportunities at BCG and recruiting timelines, check out their Columbia Page.

OLIVER WYMAN

Tech

Over the past year, the tech industry has been experiencing some changes. Companies of all sizes are reorganizing and reprioritizing where they are hiring. You might see some changes in recruiting timelines and processes and notice differences in internships and early-careers programs from previous years. Additionally, many firms have shifted away from formal identity-based hiring programs and instead are hosting in-person summits and virtual events to foster community and provide information on recruitment best practices.

  • Opportunities to learn more and engage with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) and identity-based hiring initiatives and programs are available year-round. For example:

    • Applications open for Google’s Latinx Student Leadership Summit in late January, for the April event. 

    • Microsoft hosts webinars on the first Tuesday of each month for prospective applicants to learn more about Microsoft’s neurodiversity and disability inclusion recruiting programs, requesting interview accommodations, and more. 

    • Meta hosts Meta University, a 10-week paid summer internship program for students from underrepresented communities, and applications typically open in October.

Companies will post information about similar programs on their websites and in LionSHARE.
 

2024 Timeline

  • January–March 2024

    • Medium and small firms continue to post positions throughout the early spring. This includes roles at tech companies and tech roles at companies in other industries. Full-time positions for recent graduates and roles at start-ups will continue to be posted on an as-needed basis. 

    • These firms will use on-campus recruiting including career fairs and information sessions to advertise positions and connect with potential candidates.

    • Throughout this time, organizations will continue to interview and extend offers for internships and full-time roles. 

  • March–May 2024

    • Most applications for 2024 internships and formal early-career programs at larger, more established companies will have closed. 

    • Interviews will continue to be held and offers sent on an as-needed basis.

    • Start-ups and smaller firms may continue to hire summer interns and recent graduates during this time, so students still in the job search should reach out to networking contacts made earlier in the year and check LionSHARE and other resources for new opportunities.

    • On campus recruiting will focus on opportunities for networking, general information gathering, and promotion of timelines for the next recruiting cycle. 

  • May–July 2024

    • Internships and early-career roles for 2025 will begin to be posted for tech roles/rotational programs at large firms in industries such as finance and consulting. 

      • Applications are often reviewed on a rolling basis, so early applications are highly encouraged. 

  • July–September 2024

    • This is the peak time for software engineering internships and early-career roles at large tech firms to be posted for the following summer (Summer 2025).  

    • Application review and interview processes will begin. We recommend applying to positions as soon as they open!

  • September–December 2024

    • Offers will begin to be extended for internships and full-time roles for returning interns. 

    • New openings will continue to be posted for both full-time roles and internship programs at companies of all sizes.

    • Campus recruiting begins: career fairs, on-campus interviews, virtual events, and club events will be held regularly, with participating firms advertising open positions for internships and full-time roles for the next summer (Summer 2025).

Engineering 

Engineering roles outside of tech have a larger recruiting window and tend not to open as far in advance. If an employer is on campus in the spring, they’re generally hiring for the upcoming summer, unlike finance, consulting, or tech. The peak season for both full-time positions and internships tends to be September/October through February/March. However, it is not uncommon for Engineering firms to have a presence on campus throughout the year to help bolster their brand ahead of the peak season. 

  • Large pharmaceutical, mechanical, and industrial engineering firms will have strict internship deadlines. These deadlines are often in the late winter or early spring. 

  • While there may be a recruiting “season” this can change for industries like civil engineering. If a firm takes on a batch of new projects, they may have to hire outside of traditional cycles.

Creative Industries: Media, Entertainment, Arts, and Marketing

Creative industries typically start spring intern recruitment in late fall through January, and recruit for summer internships between February and April. Depending on the organization, the applications may only be open for a short window due to the high volume of submissions they receive. Overall, there are fewer standardized timelines in the Creative Industries compared to other sectors.

Those seeking opportunities in this industry may also consider contract and project-based roles to gain industry exposure. These can help to build your network and open doors to the next opportunity.

  • The best way to stay abreast of Creative Industry opportunities is to stay active on individual companies’ job boards and build relationships with people in the field.

Non-Profit & Social Impact

The non-profit sector typically recruits on an as-needed basis. Similarly to the Creative Industries, there are fewer set recruiting timelines. These organizations start recruiting for summer opportunities in late fall through the spring or until roles are filled.

Keep in mind that not every opportunity in this field will be paid! CCE offers funding programs that can provide stipends for students in unpaid or low-paid internships. 

Government

There are no hard and fast recruiting timelines in the law and government sectors. Organizations tend to have their own hiring processes. To stay up to date on vacancies within these sectors, students are advised to monitor individual organizations’ websites and official career portals, in addition to checking LinkedIn and LionSHARE.

  • For positions within the federal government, it is important to visit the USAJobs portal and the official website of the desired department or agency. 

    • Depending on the specific role and agency, hiring timelines, requirements, and background checks can all vary. For example, the process of recruiting Foreign Service Officers follows a particularly rigid timeline, which is outlined on the State Department’s careers website.

    • It is important to note that, though many internships are listed on the USAJobs portal, some federal agencies hire interns directly and will thus list openings on their own official websites. Though applications for some federal summer internships open in the spring, organizations like the Executive Office of the President, for example, tend to hire two seasons in advance—meaning that for internships beginning in June 2024, applications would have closed in November 2023.

    • Students should be aware that many positions within the federal government—regardless of whether one enters as an intern or full-time employee—require security clearances and background checks, which can often take weeks or months to complete.

  • Local governments (such as state and city agencies) often have their own dedicated job portals and hiring practices, typically accessible on the individual organization’s website. 

    • Individual city governments often run their own internship programs. The NYC Mayor’s Office Internship Program, for example, matches summer interns with the mayoral units that best align with their academic interests and career aspirations. Full-time hiring tends to take place as positions become available.

Law

Law firms’ recruiting timelines depend on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the type of position the firm is  looking to fill, the firm’s current caseload, and the size of the firm.

  • Large firms hire annual cohorts of full-time, entry-level roles for analyst programs in the fall before a student’s anticipated graduation, most often with a start date in the following summer/fall. Firms of all sizes advertise other positions (such as paralegals and legal assistants) throughout the year, as needed.

  • As with many organizations, internship applications tend to open a season/semester before the intended start date (i.e., for summer internships, firms begin hiring students early in the spring semester, typically before March).

Connect with us to prepare for recruiting season

CCE is open all summer and we are here to support you in your internship or job search process.

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions and schedule an appointment with a career counselor to discuss your career journey!