How to break into Big 4 consulting as a student

Interested in landing an entry-level consulting role at a Big 4? To find out just how to do that, we asked insiders at the firms (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC) for their best advice.

We'll cover:

1. What entry-level consulting roles you can apply for
2. What degree(s) you'll need
3. How to stand out at a career fair (or in-person event)
4. How to apply
5. What they look for in resumes
6. Number of interviews to expect
7. What interview questions they'll ask
8. How to beat the case interview
9. How to land a return offer from your internship

What entry-level consulting roles you can apply for

Compared to tax and audit, consulting is a far bigger bucket of services with a lot more options at the entry level. Here's what you need to know and consider.

1. The level
2. The consulting practice
3. Government vs. commercial consulting
4. The track
5. Advisory vs. consulting

The level

If you're applying for consulting straight out of college, you'll start as an "analyst." That's the term for the entry-level role in consulting at most of the Big 4.

At Deloitte, you'd apply to an "analyst" role as a student. So when you're applying, look for roles with the word "analyst" at the end. For example: "Quality engineering analyst," "Strategy analyst," "Business Technology Analyst" or "Human capital analyst." – Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

At EY, our entry-level consultants are called "staff." So you'd apply to a "staff position." But funnily, when we talk to clients, we refer to them "analysts," since that sounds better. – Consulting manager @ EY

The consulting practice

At some firms, you get to rotate around different teams before you commit.

At EY, when you join as a student, you go into a rotational program. So you spend the first 2-3 years rotating through different industries and practices. I have heard of some practices, like Structural Finance, hiring students directly. But as far as I know, most students just go into the rotational group. 

– Consulting manager @ EY

In terms of what consulting group to join, one piece of advice is to get in and then work your way into projects you're interested in.

I always tell students to think of Deloitte as a huge castle with a big wall.  It may seem amorphous or unclear from the outside looking in, but once you get inside the wall, no matter what consulting group you're in, you can work on all sorts of projects.

For example, let's say you get hired as a Human Capital Analyst. The majority of Fortune 500 companies have an HR department which is considering automating or going on the cloud. It may not be the exact type of work you're interested in, but you can use your role as a way to get a glimpse of different industries.

Let's say you're interested in oil & gas and there's a human capital analyst role needed for a project where they're going to install human capital software for an oil & gas company. So even if you're not doing data analysis or risk (or what you envisioned or wanted to do work-wise day to day) for them, you're still making contacts there and getting to see the insides of a field you're interested in.

So there's no downside to anything you could do there. Even if it could be mundane at times (though I never thought it was).

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

Government vs. commercial consulting

For the most part, consulting is a field where it's easy to work on projects in many different industries. However, this flexibility doesn't always apply if you want to work on government consulting projects.

For example, Deloitte has a specific wing dedicated to government projects called "Government and Public Service" (GPS), and you need to decide early on if you want to work in it, since their projects often require special clearance.

When I was applying (during COVID), we were only allowed to apply for either government (GPS) or commercial. – Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

This doesn't mean you only work on government projects though. You can still be staffed on commercial projects and in the first few years, you can still apply to switch to commercial projects if that's what you want. But if you have any interest at all in government projects, make sure to indicate that early on.

The career track

Depending on the firm, you may have to choose between different career tracks. For example, in Deloitte, there are two main ones.

1. The "traditional consulting" track: This requires you to work on additional things on top of client projects, like help out with business development (selling the firm's services) and firm initiatives.
2. The "project delivery" track: This is also known as the "non-partner track." As a project delivery specialist, you would do work for client projects.

However, this depends on the firm.

When you're applying as a student, there aren't separate tracks. The partner/non-partner track distinction is something you only need to think about as you get more senior. – Consulting manager @ EY

Advisory vs. consulting

You may also see a lot of roles in "advisory". For the most part, advisory means consulting except at Deloitte. When in doubt, ask the recruiter!

What degree do you need to get into Big 4 consulting?

Big 4 firms hire people with all sorts of degrees for their consulting roles. It's more important that you have certain skills, qualities, and experiences.

For more information, see:

• The degrees that'll land you a Big 4 consulting internship
• Big 4 consulting: What skills you'll need to get in as a student

How to impress the Big 4 at a career fair

Your first point of contact with a Big 4 firm will likely be at a campus recruitment event. 

The best way to put yourself out there is to talk to the recruiters at a career fair. The Big 4 like talkers, extroverts. They like the first come, first serve type of mindset. 

– Former consultant @ PwC and EY

A recruiter reached out to me online and told me they were going to be virtually recruiting for roles at my school. (This was during COVID so everything was virtual.)

I attended the event and I think there were maybe 100 students on the call. About 35 of us were invited to interview, and they eventually accepted 12, I think. I don't think I would've had as good of a chance of getting in if I had just applied from a LinkedIn role.

I remember them taking a few questions from the audience. It was "off cycle" though which meant fewer kids graduating that semester – and with the labor shortage at the time, I did not feel like I was competing against as many students. So I didn’t feel the urge to ask a question that would impress the recruiters or anything.

If it was 2023, and there were 200 kids on the call, I might have felt differently!

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

Try to be personable, ask insightful questions about the company or the role or just ask about that employee’s own experience at the firm. Try to get a business card for follow-up.

EY has an internal referral system available for student/campus hires. So try to develop a good rapport with that contact and see if they’re willing to put in a referral!

– Consulting manager @ EY

If the Big 4 don't actively recruit at your school, you can still see if they're hosting events like info sessions at an office near you.

💡 Pro tip

See A student's guide to a great career fair for more tips on standing out at your next career fair.

How to apply for a Big 4 consulting role?

The application process seems to be quite simple – a simple online application that involves sending in a resume with an unofficial transcript.

I sent in a resume and an unofficial transcript from my school. There may have been a brief survey asking for demographic info.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

What do the Big 4 look for in a resume?

Make sure your resume stands out. A lot of business majors have similar experiences, doing sophomore- or junior-year internships at a financial services firm. Everyone's done some analyst work and prepared reports. We see this a lot and it honestly doesn't really stand out.

What does stand out is when you make your resume highlight your accomplishments. So instead of being like "I prepared a report" talk about your impact in metrics, like "They used my report to bump up marketing revenue by a certain percentage."

We also want to know about your extracurriculars. Outside of your school or internships, if you spearheaded some sort of community project that made a big impact and you can show that you took the initiative as a student to figure out a lot of things, like who to reach out to for funding, how to coordinate everything, etc – these are all leadership and organizational skills that we like to see.

These details also give us more interesting things to talk about during the interview.

– Consulting manager @ EY

Does the Big 4 ask for cover letters?

The general advice seems to be to write a cover letter even if it's not required.

Re: cover letters ... I think the more effort you can make to show you are going above and beyond to be engaged with Deloitte and get to know them, the better you will be received.

– Former recruiter @ Deloitte

I don't think a cover letter was required, but I always recommend attaching one! 

Obviously, there’s a fair chance that it will go unread, especially if it’s at a huge company that probably has to filter out applications to some extent, but I would advise, that if you care enough about a given job you are applying to, it’s another complementary component that could spare you from the reject pile. Sort of like a college admissions essay for a reach school.

There is no downside to writing one, and they should only take maybe 3 hours tops, and if you’re in college you definitely have time!

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

As interviewers, I don’t think we’ve ever been presented with a cover letter — only the resumes. The recruiters will receive them though.

In my opinion, cover letters are similar to the post-interview thank you note. Almost everybody sends one. Having a great one can make you stand out, having an average/normal one won’t be the reason you do or don’t get the job, and not doing one or doing it poorly can cost you the job.

– Consulting manager @ EY

How many rounds of interviews are there?

Three interviews seems to be the norm.

After I completed the online application, I had two 30-minute interviews with two mid-level people, then one 30-minute interview with a partner. I didn't need to interview with an HR person.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

HR does an initial screening. They might do a phone screen and at some point, they did a video interview.

But after HR, actual employees at the firm (like me) need to sign up for interviews. We'll go through resumes. There are 2 behavioral interviews and a case study interview.

We'll ask things like "Tell me about yourself" and behavioral questions like "Tell me about your strengths," "When have you disagreed with a leader?" "When have you worked with a team member who wasn't pulling their weight?" We don't spend more than 30-45mins talking to each candidate

The case study will be something like "Company XYZ has this problem. What would you do to help them solve it?" We'll give them 5-10 minutes to read over everything, collect their thoughts, and then start asking them questions. It's not necessarily about getting the right answer. We just care about whether you can communicate your analysis and show how you arrived at the answer. 

The case study lasts 30-45mins in total and we only do one case study. We're not going to put them through multiple cases.

We interview 3-4 candidates over the day. Then we discuss who we hire and not. 

– Consulting manager @ EY

💡 Pro tip

The people who interview you are people too! If a student bores you, it's not going to be a good interview.

A lot of students are technically gifted but they don't come across as someone you want to work with. When you work late – which we do a lot at the Big 4 – you don't want to be working with a miserable person.

So personality matters a lot at Big 4. We're not as technical as investment banking, and especially EY – we're more about the people. This is something the leadership champions as well. We don't want technical ppl who can't be good teammates. 

– Consulting manager @ EY

What interview questions do the Big 4 ask for consulting?

1. Motivational questions
2. Behavioral questions
3. Other

#1 Motivational questions

These include questions about why you want to join the firm and/or practice.

It would be good to memorize some facts about Deloitte like the year it was founded, the names of some chairpeople, and some projects they publicize. They might ask if you're a fan of a particular project. Then you'll be prepared to answer the question, "Why Deloitte?"

In my case, I answered something like "It's the largest firm, which means the most opportunity to network and get exposure to different opportunities. I also like the international aspect of it."

If you're coming out of college, you don't need to be super specific. You can bring up how they invest in their talent, there's a lot of upskilling opportunities, they'll sponsor you for MBA, which isn't something they go out of their way to advertise so it shows you probably did some homework and networking.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

You might also be asked where you see yourself in five years. It's a funny question, because firms do know most new hires leave within 2-3 years. But you still need to prepare answer to it.

If you're asked "Where you would see yourself in the firm in five years?" obviously don't say something like "I intend to make an exit as soon as possible."

If you're coming in as a generalist, think about whether you have a role in mind or group in mind that you want to get transferred into. For example, I want to start in a generalist role but upskill and become a backend developer. 

Personally, I answered something along the lines of “It wouldn’t feel right / It would be presumptuous on my part to give a definitive answer right in this moment, because I am coming right out of college and I'm aware that Deloitte has a lot of different opportunities and provides many different services." I then parlayed that response into a compliment of the firm of sorts; demonstrating that I did my research and knew what I was getting myself into.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

Check out our best advice on answering these questions – and find out what employers are really asking – in the following posts:

• 7 sample responses to "Tell me about yourself" for students
• 7 sample responses to "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" for students

#2 Behavioral questions

The firms will ask you a bunch of behavioral questions. To learn what these are and how to best respond, check out:

• Big 4 juniors share 25 interview questions they were actually asked
• The STAR method: Your secret weapon to acing interviews as a student

#3 Other types of questions

It really depends on who you get as an interviewer. If you get a partner who just wants to talk about baseball, you gotta talk about baseball. Deloitte is the largest consulting firm in the world, so you really don't know. – Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

How to beat Big 4 case interviews

Case studies are often used in the consulting world to assess a candidate's problem-solving skills. They present a business problem and ask you to propose a solution, giving you a chance to demonstrate your analytical abilities and strategic thinking.

Let's say you're interviewing for a tech consulting role. In that case, they'd give you a case like "A client has a problem or wants to make improvements. How would you go about it from start to finish?"

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

Tip #1: Communicate your thought process

Remember, a case study is not just about finding a solution, but also about the journey you take to get there. It's about how you analyze the problem, how you use data and facts, how you make decisions based on that analysis – and how you communicate all of these things to your interviewer.

For a tech consulting case, you don't need to know about the premiere market-dominating software. 

It's more about problem-solving and how you'd build the software, how you'd test it, how you'd ensure all stakeholders are accommodated and input is being sought. Make sure you're sequentially leading the interviewer through the case. Also consider potential developments or problems that might arise when giving your response. 

It'd also be good to know about common features in enterprise software, and common considerations that every company needs to make these days (e.g. cybersecurity). 

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

Tip #2: Pretend you're with a client

The Big 4 want to make sure you're someone they'd be comfortable putting in front of a client. 

Above all, they want to see how you engage with the interviewer and how well you treat the interviewer as a client.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

You might get assigned a buddy who you can call and practice with.

Make sure you're a good orator (you're not monotone).

Go on Prep Lounge to find sample cases. Read the book Case in point. Make sure you can do mental math.

– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte

What leaves a good impression is when they walk us through their thoughts – even if they got the question incorrect. "Based on the knowledge that I have, this is what I think. This is why I respond this way."

Honestly, half the time, as long as they sound confident, they'll pass the case interview. It's about how you present yourself.

There are a lot of really technical candidates, but they're not confident; they're monotone. You'd take the candidate who sounds better. Which is unfortunate but presence really matters when you're doing interviews.

But there's a limit of course! You can't get everything wrong and say stuff that's totally off. But it gives you a bit of an edge if you can be confident. 

– Consulting manager @ EY

For more cases to practice on, check out Prosple's very own cases.

How to land a return offer from your internship

After your internship, your direct manager will be asked whether they'd want to hire you back. There will be roundtable discussions.

Just don't make a horrible impression and you'll get asked back. To my memory, we only had one intern who we didn't extend an offer to - they were a little too chill. They never asked "Is there anything else I can help with" and they just kinda left for the day. Usually, it's better to ask – you'll leave a better impression. 

But it's not the end of the world if you don't get a return offer. With a Big 4 internship under your belt, you can land a Big 4 job at another firm.

– Consulting manager @ EY

What next?

If you're still shopping for opportunities, check out all our consulting internships!