How and when US and Canadian firms hire
Undergraduate and MBA timelines, US online assessments, and AI-assisted interviews.
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 US: when we checked on 2026-09-28, applications for 2027 summer internships and full-time Associate roles had already closed.
- BCG: US Associate job opportunities (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/on-campus/united-states-associate-job-opportunities.
- McKinsey: Undergraduate degree careers (official): https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/students/undergraduate-degree.
- Bain: What to expect (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/hiring-process/what-to-expect/.
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.
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.
Undergraduate and master's timelines
- Applications open early. For undergraduates, the main MBB internship applications for the summer after the third year are reported to open around June and close between late July and early September of the year before.
- BCG US: when we checked on 2026-09-28, applications for 2027 summer internships and full-time Associate roles had already closed. BCG sends the Consulting Career Assessment (CCA) 30 to 90 minutes after you apply, to be completed within 48 hours of the invitation, and invites selected candidates about two weeks after the deadline to an online case of about 35 minutes.
- Canada: BCG says undergraduates apply in June for full-time roles (one year before the start) and in September for summer roles (two years before), and advanced-degree candidates in August for full-time and November to December for summer roles. Other firms use school-specific dates at universities such as the University of Toronto and McGill (reported). Check your career center.
- EY US lists Consulting and EY-Parthenon early-career applications as opening 8 September and closing 22 September (the page gives no year; checked 28 September 2026).
- Reported deadlines for 2027 roles, all passed: McKinsey Business Analyst 11 August 2026; BCG Associate 7 July 2026 (RoadToOffer) or 14 July 2026 (PrepLounge), so the sources disagree. Use them to plan the next cycle, and confirm on the firm pages.
MBA recruiting
MBA recruiting runs through business schools, with firm events early in the first year and internship interviews later in the first year (reported). For the 2026-27 cycle, RoadToOffer (updated 11 September 2026) reports first-year summer applications in September to October 2026 and second-year full-time applications in October to November 2026 at most firms. EY US lists MBA intern roles in Consulting and EY-Parthenon as opening 5 October and closing 29 November. Dates differ by school, so follow your career center's calendar.
AI-assisted interviews (what firms have said, as reported)
McKinsey's talent attraction lead told CaseCoach in September 2026 that its AI-assisted case usually replaces one normal case, counts toward the decision, is used in selected offices, most often in Europe, and is not standard worldwide. Earlier reports from a prep company, repeated by Fortune in January 2026, described a pilot in US final rounds using Lilli, McKinsey's internal AI tool; McKinsey did not confirm those details. Bain's global head of talent acquisition has said candidates should expect to use AI in the interview process, and prep sites report an AI-enabled component from summer 2026. Neither firm had published the format on its careers pages when we checked, so ask your recruiter.
| 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.
Facts checked against sources on 2026-09-28. Sources, official pages first. "Reported" means a secondary source, not the firm or government itself.
- BCG: US Associate job opportunities (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/on-campus/united-states-associate-job-opportunities
- McKinsey: Undergraduate degree careers (official): https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/students/undergraduate-degree
- Bain: What to expect (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/hiring-process/what-to-expect/
- BCG: International opportunities, application timing and languages by country (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/locations/united-kingdom/international-opportunities
- EY US: Early career application guidance and deadlines (official): https://www.ey.com/en_us/careers/early-career-application-guidance-and-deadlines
- USCIS: H-1B specialty occupations (official government source): https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/h-1b-specialty-occupations
- USCIS: Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 students (official government source): https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/optional-practical-training-opt-for-f-1-students
- USCIS: STEM OPT extension (official government source): https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/optional-practical-training-extension-for-stem-students-stem-opt
- Reported: Yale OISS, proclamation extends H-1B 100,000 dollar fee policy; fee remains blocked by court order; proposed cap-subject fee (September 2026): https://oiss.yale.edu/news/presidential-proclamation-extends-h-1b-100000-fee-policy-fee-remains-blocked-by-court-order
- Reported: DiRaimondo & Schroeder, H-1B proclamation extended through September 2027: https://www.diraimondoschroeder.com/updates/2026/9/21/trump-administration-extends-100000-h-1b-proclamation-through-september-2027-but-fee-remains-blocked-by-court-order
- Reported: PrepLounge, application deadlines in the USA 2026: https://www.preplounge.com/en/blog/consulting/interview/application-deadlines-usa
- Reported: RoadToOffer, consulting application deadlines 2026: https://www.roadtooffer.com/blog/consulting-application-deadlines-2026
- Reported: CaseCoach, 22 September 2026, how McKinsey, BCG and Bain are testing AI skills in interviews: https://casecoach.com/b/how-mckinsey-bcg-and-bain-are-testing-ai-skills-in-interviews/
- Reported (news): Fortune, 14 January 2026, earlier report of a McKinsey AI interview pilot: https://fortune.com/2026/01/14/how-to-get-hired-at-mckinsey-ai-tools-liberal-arts-creativity/
- Reported: CaseBasix, Bain AI interview: https://www.casebasix.com/pages/bain-ai-interview
Sources for this lesson (15)
- BCG: US Associate job opportunities (official)
- McKinsey: Undergraduate degree careers (official)
- Bain: What to expect (official)
- BCG: International opportunities, application timing and languages by country (official)
- EY US: Early career application guidance and deadlines (official)
- USCIS: H-1B specialty occupations (official government source)
- USCIS: Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 students (official government source)
- USCIS: STEM OPT extension (official government source)
- Reported: Yale OISS, proclamation extends H-1B 100,000 dollar fee policy; fee remains blocked by court order; proposed cap-subject fee (September 2026)
- Reported: DiRaimondo & Schroeder, H-1B proclamation extended through September 2027
- Reported: PrepLounge, application deadlines in the USA 2026
- Reported: RoadToOffer, consulting application deadlines 2026
- Reported: CaseCoach, 22 September 2026, how McKinsey, BCG and Bain are testing AI skills in interviews
- Reported (news): Fortune, 14 January 2026, earlier report of a McKinsey AI interview pilot
- Reported: CaseBasix, Bain AI interview
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