Lesson 1 of 2 Last reviewed 28 September 2026 10 min

The firms and how and when they hire

Offices, local firms, the hiring calendar, selection steps, and entry titles.

Firm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.

Key takeaways

BCG: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, and Auckland.
Bain: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. Its graduate page names Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth for Associate Consultant hiring.
McKinsey has offices in Australia and New Zealand, but its pages did not load when we checked.
Nous Group, an international consultancy of about 600 people with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, and Darwin, plus Toronto, Vancouver, and London.
Marsden Jacob Associates, economics, public policy, and strategy advisers in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane.

Checked on 2026-09-28

This lesson was checked against the sources listed at the end, official pages first. Firm processes change between offices, roles, and years, so use it as a guide and confirm the details in your invitation and with your recruiter.

Independence

So What Club is independent. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any firm named in this library. Firm names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to describe publicly available information about how these firms hire. We never reproduce any firm's test or share confidential interview material.

Global firms (official office pages, checked 2026-09-28)

BCG: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, and Auckland.
Bain: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. Its graduate page names Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth for Associate Consultant hiring.
McKinsey has offices in Australia and New Zealand, but its pages did not load when we checked.
Kearney and L.E.K.: Sydney and Melbourne. Oliver Wyman: Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Canberra. Roland Berger opened a Sydney office on 1 November 2025. Strategy&: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra.
Deloitte (strategy practice: Monitor Deloitte), EY (strategy: EY-Parthenon), KPMG, PwC, and Accenture have offices across both countries.

Australian and New Zealand firms (from their own websites)

Nous Group, an international consultancy of about 600 people with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, and Darwin, plus Toronto, Vancouver, and London.
Marsden Jacob Associates, economics, public policy, and strategy advisers in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane.
Sapere, an economics consultancy with offices in Auckland, Wellington, and five Australian cities, and MartinJenkins, an advisory firm in Wellington and Auckland whose clients include central and local government.
Port Jackson Partners, a Sydney strategy firm, joined EY-Parthenon in 2020 (reported), so it now recruits as part of EY.
We have not reviewed the interview process at these firms. Read each firm's careers page.

How and when hiring happens

The Australian academic year runs from about February to November, and the long summer break is from about November to February. Most graduate hiring happens in one campaign early in the year, for a start the following year, and summer internships are called vacation or vacationer programs.

BCG Australia and New Zealand: graduate applications will open again in January 2027, and BCG describes two interview campaigns a year, typically February to March and April to May. BCG's Australia and New Zealand careers pages do not list a general summer internship; students in their second-to-last year can apply for its Scholarship and Early Intake Program, with 20,000 dollars of scholarship funding, a mentor, and a graduate job offer. That program opens again in March 2027.
Bain Australia: the graduate campaign runs from February to March each year, with rolling applications outside it, and reopens in early 2027. Bain also offers an AUD 20,000 scholarship for second-to-last-year women and non-binary students who are Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.
Big Four vacation programs: Deloitte Australia runs 4 to 8 week paid programs starting in November or January; KPMG Australia runs 3 to 8 weeks over summer, and its 2026-27 consulting intake was listed from 15 February and closed 20 April 2026 (reported); PwC Australia offers 7 weeks in summer or 4 weeks in winter; EY Australia reviews applications on a rolling basis.
New Zealand: Deloitte New Zealand's summer internships run from 16 November 2026 to 12 February 2027, and graduate roles start on 22 February 2027.

Selection steps firms describe

BCG: an online case assessment and an online numerical assessment, then first-round case interviews, then final interviews the following week. Applicants choose up to two offices.
Bain: a psychometric assessment after applying, then interviews. Bain says applications are reviewed by people, not a computer.
KPMG: two online assessments, then a review of your application by the business (you may be asked for transcripts), then an interview. PwC: online assessments, a digital interview, then an assessment centre with a case study.

Entry titles seen

BCG: Associate. Bain: Associate Consultant. We could not check a McKinsey or Deloitte strategy graduate title in an Australian posting, so read the current postings.

Entry titles by firm (what the firms call the first consulting job)

Entry titles by firm (what the firms call the first consulting job)
Firm	Bachelor's or master's entry	MBA entry	Where we checked
McKinsey & Company	Business Analyst (fellow and intern roles also exist)	Associate	mckinsey.com student career pages
BCG	Associate (Senior Associate for many PhD students)	Consultant	careers.bcg.com early-career and job pages
Bain & Company	Associate Consultant	Consultant	bain.com hiring-process pages
Roland Berger	Junior Consultant	Read the job posting	rolandberger.com job postings
EY-Parthenon (US)	Associate Program	Consultant Program (check eligibility)	ey.com US EY-Parthenon career pages
KPMG (UK)	Strategy Graduate Programme (per a 2019 KPMG brochure; check the current posting)	Read the job posting	kpmgcareers.co.uk
All other firms here	Varies by country and team	Varies by country and team	Read the job posting for your office

So-what

Titles differ by office and country, so always read the posting for the office you apply to.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-28. Sources, official pages first. "Reported" means a secondary source, not the firm or government itself.

BCG: Careers in Australia and New Zealand (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/australia-and-new-zealand
BCG: Australia and New Zealand Associate recruitment (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/australia-new-zealand/associate-recruitment
BCG: Scholarship and Early Intake Program (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/australia-and-new-zealand/scholarship
BCG: International opportunities, application timing and languages by country (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/united-kingdom/international-opportunities
BCG: Offices (official): https://www.bcg.com/offices/default
BCG: New Zealand (official): https://www.bcg.com/new-zealand
Bain: Australia graduate recruitment (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/recruiting/australia-graduate-recruitment/
Bain: True North Scholarship, Australia (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/true-north-scholarship-for-women-australia/
Bain: Offices (official): https://www.bain.com/offices/
Kearney: Australia and New Zealand (official): https://www.kearney.com/about/locations/anz/about
L.E.K.: Sydney office (official): https://www.lek.com/global-offices/sydney
Oliver Wyman: Asia Pacific locations (official): https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/global-locations/asia-pacific.html
Roland Berger: Australia (official): https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Locations/Australia/
Strategy& Australia: Contact us (official): https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/au/en/contact-us.html
EY-Parthenon Australia (official): https://www.ey.com/en_au/services/strategy/ey-parthenon-strategy-consulting-australia
Deloitte Australia: Monitor Deloitte (official): https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/services/consulting/services/monitor-deloitte.html
Deloitte Australia: Summer vacation program (official): https://deloitte.com/au/en/careers/students/summer-vacation-program-careers.html
Deloitte New Zealand: Student FAQ (official): https://www.deloitte.com/nz/en/careers/students/frequently-asked-questions.html
KPMG Australia: Vacation program (official): https://kpmg.com/au/en/careers/graduates/vacation-program.html
PwC Australia: Vacation program (official): https://jobs-au.pwc.com/au/en/vacation-program
EY Australia: 2026-27 Vacationer program (official): https://www.ey.com/en_au/careers/2026-27-vacationer-program-student-opportunities
Nous Group (official): https://nousgroup.com/
Nous Group: Contact us (offices) (official): https://nousgroup.com/contact-us
Marsden Jacob Associates (official): https://www.marsdenjacob.com.au/
Sapere: Contact us (official): https://srgexpert.com/contact-us/
MartinJenkins: Our story (official): https://www.martinjenkins.co.nz/our-story
Australian Department of Home Affairs: Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) (official government source): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/temporary-graduate-485
Australian Department of Home Affairs: Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) (official government source): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skills-in-demand-visa-subclass-482
Immigration New Zealand: Post-Study Work Visa (official government source): https://www.immigration.govt.nz/visas/post-study-work-visa/
Immigration New Zealand: eligibility extended from 16 November 2026 (official government source): https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/news-centre/post-study-work-visa-eligibility-extended-from-16-november-2026/
Parliament of Australia: Senate inquiry into consulting services (official government source): https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Finance_and_Public_Administration/Consultingservices
Minister for the Public Service: APS Strategic Commissioning Framework (October 2023) (official government source): https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/gallagher/2023/release-aps-strategic-commissioning-framework
Minister for the Public Service: core work brought in-house (November 2024) (official government source): https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/gallagher/2024/aps-set-bring-more-half-billion-dollars-core-work-house
Reported: GradConnection, KPMG 2026-27 vacationer program, business, consulting and risk: https://au.gradconnection.com/employers/kpmg/jobs/kpmg-202627-kpmg-vacationer-program-business-consulting-risk/
Reported: Consultancy.com.au, Port Jackson Partners joins EY-Parthenon (May 2020): https://www.consultancy.com.au/news/2054/port-jackson-partners-joins-eys-strategy-wing-ey-parthenon
Reported: Wikipedia, PwC tax scandal (background): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PwC_tax_scandal

Sources for this lesson (36)

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