Hi all,I left my last job at the end of December, with a view to taking some time out of the rat race and applying for a role in consulting. I believe I am strong-ish candidate (3 years consulting at ACN plus 18 months working for a startup), and have applied for experienced hire CRM, project management or general consulting intakes at big-5 consultancies. My applications were all made in the first half of January, and I received receipts of application from everywhere I applied. So far, I have had one single callback from one company, and that was just to clarify the department I wish to pursue an application to. I have also used a (supposedly good) recruitment agency to investigate opportunities at smaller, niche consultancies - but have found them unwilling to return calls (and fairly useless in general).If (as Top-Consultant and other sources keep reporting) this is a booming time for consulting recruitment, why is the whole process taking so long just to get to the first stages of interview? Surely the consultancies are missing a trick and letting talent slip through by not being proactive or well-staffed enough to deal with applications. I don't reckon I am the bees-knees by way of candidates, but I am realistic and should at least be able to secure first rounds with everywhere I have applied. I don't see why the process should be taking quite so long. Tony / anyone else - any views on this?

I has a similar experience last year, but found that 4 of the companies I applied to replied to me on the same day (!) offering interviews. These guys are overworked and will respond to you eventually - just be patient.

This is certainly one potential explanation - most firms we're working with are totally stretched at present and certainly one of the majors has admitted to us being way behind on processing applications right now.I would take your steer from working with recruitment consultancies. They make their money from making placements - and so a candidate they feel they have no chance of successfulling placing into a consulting job will be of little interest to them; one they thing can be easily placed will have time invested in them and be given assistance with CV writing, interview preparation, etc. If you can't get any recruitment firms interested in you as a candidate, be worried; if they are showing interest then it should just be a matter of time...Tony

P.S. I should add to this that recruitment agencies have a set of assignments they are working on - and so a good candidate can be of no great interest to them, despite their calibre, if there is no assignment they are working on that the candidate would be a good fit for. Hence, don't be downheartened if you're getting the cold shoulder from just one recruitment firm; speak with a couple more to see what their interest levels are like...Tony

Tony, thanks for the response. Regardless of the behaviour of the recruitment consultant I am using, I am a little bewildered that I haven't even had rejections from the firms I have applied to. All of the communications I had from these companies when I first applied (generally through automated response emails, or info on the application forms) suggested that I would be informed of a decision either way - so I can't help but feel they are just beingj slowing in reviewing my applications.

Hi, I seem to be finding the same problem, i don't have quite as much experience as Jeremy, and mine is in pharmaceuticals as a project manager, rather than in consulting per se, but i havn't had any joy either yet.I have applied to a number of positions but i was wondering if anybody could suggest a few good agencies to approach?Thanks, Andy.

Jeremy,Your background is very similar to mine. I was a Manager with ACN before jumping onto the dot-com bandwagon before returning to consulting. I'm heavily involved on the recruiting side in my firm. Drop me your email address and I'll then take a look at your CV and determine if there is any interest on our side.

Hi Another Anon - many thanks for the offer of seeing my CV.What is your email address? If unwilling to give it out publicly via the forum, please email me your contact details at daveeeeeed@yahoo.co.uk and I will send my CV across. Who do you work for?Many thanks again, Jeremy (not my real name :-) )

Hello Another Anon,Would you mind dropping my a mail as well so that I can pass on my cv. I am in a very similar position to Jeremy and it is getting quite frustrating now. lancaster.mcs@gmail.comThanks.