Lesson 1 of 2 Last reviewed 28 September 2026 12 min

The firms, the calendar, and how hiring works

Tokyo and Seoul offices, Japan's shinsotsu hiring calendar, internships, and Korea's routes in.

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 (Tokyo, plus Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Fukuoka), Bain (Tokyo), L.E.K.
Japanese firms such as Nomura Research Institute (NRI), Dream Incubator, and ABeam Consulting, and YCP, an Asia-focused firm with a Tokyo office.
Since the students graduating in March 2026, a student judged highly skilled in a specialist internship of two weeks or more may move into selection before June.
The calendar is a request, not a law. Foreign strategy firms recruit much earlier, as the next list shows.

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.

Japan: the firms

BCG (Tokyo, plus Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Fukuoka), Bain (Tokyo), L.E.K. (Tokyo), Oliver Wyman (Tokyo), and Roland Berger (Tokyo), checked on their office pages. McKinsey has a Tokyo office, but its pages did not load when we checked; Kearney, Arthur D. Little, and Strategy& are also reported to be in Tokyo.
Large consulting arms of the Big Four and Accenture: Deloitte Tohmatsu (the former Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting became part of Deloitte Tohmatsu LLC in December 2025), EY Strategy and Consulting, KPMG Consulting, PwC, and Accenture Japan, which reports about 30,000 staff.
Japanese firms such as Nomura Research Institute (NRI), Dream Incubator, and ABeam Consulting, and YCP, an Asia-focused firm with a Tokyo office.

Japan: the new-graduate calendar (shinsotsu hiring)

Most large Japanese employers hire students as one class that starts work together after graduation, a system called shinsotsu ikkatsu saiyo. Each year the government asks employers to follow a common calendar. For students graduating in the 2027 academic year (mostly in spring 2028), the request issued on 24 March 2026 sets these dates: company information and publicity from 1 March just before the final year, selection (tests and interviews) from 1 June of the final year, and formal offers (naitei) from 1 October of the final year.

Exceptions and internships

Since the students graduating in March 2026, a student judged highly skilled in a specialist internship of two weeks or more may move into selection before June.
Under a 2022 agreement between three ministries, firms may use what they learn about students in qualifying internships (5 days or more, or 2 weeks or more for the specialist type) in hiring, but only once the publicity or selection dates open.
The calendar is a request, not a law. Foreign strategy firms recruit much earlier, as the next list shows.

How strategy firms in Tokyo hire (official pages, checked 2026-09-28)

Bain Tokyo, Japanese university students graduating in 2028: document screening, an online aptitude test, interviews, an internship, a final interview, then an offer. Its winter internship runs 26 to 28 November 2026, with applications due 7 October 2026, months before the government's June 2027 selection date for this class.
Bain Tokyo, students at overseas universities: applications for Associate Consultant (class of 2027) and Associate Consultant Intern (class of 2028) close on 30 September 2026, with first-round case interviews in Japanese on 17 and 18 October, later rounds through November, and offers in November. Full-time hires start in April or September 2027; interns join a 6 to 8 week program in summer 2027. Bain also lists the Boston Career Forum on 19 to 21 November 2026.
BCG Japan, class of 2028 (graduating September 2027 to August 2028): a winter internship at the Tokyo office in December, with applications due 13 October. BCG says selection for students graduating by August 2027 has finished. Its international page describes three interview campaigns a year: summer (May to early July), autumn (September to mid-October), and winter (October to January).
McKinsey Japan was reported to make offers in October in an earlier cycle, after a game-based test and several case interviews (reported).
Internships are a selection step, not only work experience: at Bain Tokyo the internship comes before the final interview.

South Korea: the firms and routes in

Seoul offices checked on official pages: Bain (since 1991), BCG (since 1994, about 350 staff), Kearney, Roland Berger, KPMG Samjong, Deloitte, and EY-Parthenon. McKinsey has a Seoul office, but its pages did not load when we checked.
Oliver Wyman closed its Seoul office in 2020 and serves Korea from other offices (reported). L.E.K. does not list Seoul on its offices page.
Bain Seoul runs an Associate Consultant Trainee program three times a year, in spring, summer, and winter, lasting at least two to three months. Bain says you may apply any time and applications are reviewed in the next recruiting season.
BCG Seoul posts separate roles for students at US campuses (Summer Associate) and for full-time Associates from overseas campuses, each with its own deadline. BCG says Korean applications usually open twice a year, with the next window expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Research assistant (RA) internships at consulting firms are also posted on Korean university career boards (reported).
Military service: Korean men must serve, for about 18 months in the army, which affects when many men graduate and apply (reported).

Language and formats

Japan: Bain Tokyo asks for business-level Japanese and English, and JLPT N1 or equivalent for non-native Japanese speakers. We did not find an English-only consulting track in Tokyo on any official page. McKinsey Japan interviews are reported to be offered in English or Japanese.
Korea: Bain Seoul's trainee program asks for full professional Korean and holds interviews mainly in Korean. BCG Seoul says fluency in Korean and English is highly preferred.
Formats in Japan (reported): Fermi estimation (fermi suitei, a market-sizing question), case interviews, and group work during internships.

Entry titles seen

Bain Japan: Associate Consultant. Bain Korea: Associate Consultant Trainee (internship).
BCG Japan: management consultant role (keiei konsarutanto shoku). BCG Korea: Associate.
McKinsey Japan: Business Analyst (reported).

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.

Cabinet Secretariat (Japan): request on the hiring schedule for students graduating in academic year 2027 (in Japanese) (official government source): https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/shushoku_katsudou_yousei/2027nendosotu/index.html
Cabinet Secretariat (Japan): index of hiring schedule requests, dated 24 March 2026 (in Japanese) (official government source): https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/shushoku_katsudou_yousei/index.html
Cabinet Secretariat (Japan): early selection after specialist internships, 5 December 2024 (in Japanese) (official government source): https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/shushoku_katsudou/pdf/r061205_siryou.pdf
MEXT, MHLW, and METI (Japan): rules on internships and hiring (in Japanese) (official government source): https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20231016-mxt_daigakuc02-000031719_35.pdf
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (in Japanese) (official government source): https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/gijinkoku.html
Embassy of the Republic of Korea: E-7 visa (official government source): https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/fi-en/brd/m_20979/view.do?seq=5
Korea.net: Top-Tier visa (April 2025) (official government source): https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/policies/view?articleId=269172
Bain Tokyo: hiring process for Japanese university students (in Japanese) (official): https://www.bain.com/ja/careers/hiring-process/tokyo/domestic-undergrad/
Bain Tokyo: hiring process for overseas university students (in Japanese) (official): https://www.bain.com/ja/careers/hiring-process/tokyo/overseas-undergrad/
Bain: Associate Consultant Trainee program, Korea (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/associate-consultant-trainee-korea/
Bain: Tokyo office (official): https://www.bain.com/offices/tokyo/
Bain: Seoul office (official): https://www.bain.com/offices/seoul/
BCG Japan: class of 2028 new graduates (in Japanese) (official): https://careers.bcg.com/jp/ja/japan-new-grads-2028
BCG Japan: new graduate recruiting (in Japanese) (official): https://careers.bcg.com/jp/ja/japan-newgrads
BCG: Tokyo office (official): https://www.bcg.com/offices/tokyo/default
BCG: Seoul office (official): https://www.bcg.com/offices/seoul/default
BCG: Korea Associate jobs (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/korea/associate-jobs
BCG: International opportunities, application timing and languages by country (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/united-kingdom/international-opportunities
L.E.K.: Tokyo office (official): https://www.lek.com/global-offices/tokyo
Oliver Wyman: Tokyo office (official): https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/global-locations/asia-pacific/japan/tokyo.html
Roland Berger: Japan (official): https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Locations/Japan/News/
Roland Berger: South Korea (official): https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Locations/Southkorea/
Kearney Korea: office location (in Korean) (official): https://www.kearney.co.kr/infrastructure/article/-/insights/aKdLlqA4MHWo/content/korea-location-map
Deloitte Tohmatsu LLC (in Japanese) (official): https://www.deloitte.com/jp/ja/about/group/deloitte-tohmatsu-llc.html
EY Strategy and Consulting (in Japanese) (official): https://www.ey.com/ja_jp/about-us/ey-strategy-and-consulting
KPMG Consulting Japan: corporate profile (in Japanese) (official): https://kpmg.com/jp/ja/about/kc/corporate-profile.html
Accenture Japan (in Japanese) (official): https://www.accenture.com/jp-ja/about/company/japan
Nomura Research Institute: consulting (in Japanese) (official): https://www.nri.com/jp/service/consulting
Dream Incubator: company (in Japanese) (official): https://www.dreamincubator.co.jp/company/
ABeam Consulting: about (in Japanese) (official): https://www.abeam.com/jp/ja/about/
YCP: Locations (official): https://ycp.com/locations
KPMG Samjong (in Korean) (official): https://kpmg.com/kr/ko/home/about.html
EY-Parthenon Korea careers (in Korean) (official): https://www.ey.com/ko_kr/careers/parthenon
Reported: Alternative Careers, McKinsey Japan recruiting for the class of 2023 (in Japanese, November 2022): https://www.alternativecareers.jp/articles/mckinsey_mac_23_recruit
Reported: PrepLounge forum, McKinsey Japan case interview language (September 2022): https://www.preplounge.com/consulting-forum/mckinsey-japan-case-interview-language-14543
Reported: Candidate blog on note.com, Bain Japan class of 2028 selection (in Japanese; low reliability): https://note.com/ideal_impala5739/n/n279ab87953cb
Reported: Korea University career board, BCG RA internship posting (November 2023): https://biz.korea.ac.kr/cdc/eng/recruitment/recruitment_view.html?no=11996&page=1
Reported: Wikipedia, Conscription in South Korea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_South_Korea
Reported (news): Consultancy.asia, Oliver Wyman closes its Seoul office (December 2020): https://www.consultancy.asia/news/3775/oliver-wyman-closes-its-office-in-seoul-south-korea

Sources for this lesson (39)

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