Introduction to Recruiting
Overview
While hiring takes place on a rolling basis throughout the year, this is a representation of what we have observed as the peak recruiting periods by industry for the Friedman School. This is meant to serve as a general guide to inform your job search strategy. We recommend using these insights as a general guide followed by checking the websites of particular companies of interest to get a sense of their individual hiring cycles and having conversations with alumni who work at your target companies to gain specific company insights which can vary by team/function/department.
If you have any questions or would like assistance with exploring options, schedule an appointment with a career advisor.
Introduction to Recruiting Timelines: Full-Time and Internship
Don’t miss out on a dream full-time or internship opportunity because you missed a deadline! Having a general understanding of your target industry’s hiring cycle provides you with an advantage so you can plan ahead, such as starting networking and completing your career marketing materials (resume, cover letter, etc.) in advance of the peak of the hiring cycle so you are ready to apply when opportunities are posted. Below are the most typical ways employers can structure their hiring cycles based on their individual business needs:
- ‘Forecasted’ hiring: Generally, the larger an employer is, if there is a formal internship program every year, and/or if there is an established history of hosting an intern, the more likely the company has the ability to forecast a consistent hiring need in advance. The application deadlines vary depending on the opportunity; some have one deadline per year, while larger programs may have multiple deadlines throughout the year. This also includes fellowships, such as the Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) which has an annual application deadline of early fall.
- ‘Just in Time’ hiring: The majority of employers across all sectors – for-profit, non-profit, and government – fall into this category. A hiring need arises “just in time” such as someone gets promoted into another role or leaves the company. When a position is open, a company is motivated to fill the role as soon as possible and may not have the ability to hold the role further out than a few weeks.
- ‘Rolling’ applications: Employers accepting applications on a rolling basis will review resumes as they are submitted and begin interviewing candidates prior to the application deadline. It’s recommended that you apply to these opportunities earlier rather than later.
Full-Time & Internship Recruiting Timeline by Industry
Industry Insights
These are the general trends we have observed for common industries that hire Friedman students for full-time roles and internships. However this is not an exhaustive list and does not represent every industry within our Alumni network.
- Consulting: peaks between August-October and January-March. Larger firms may recruit even earlier
- Non-profit: peaks between September-November and January-March
- Academia: peaks between August-November
- Federal Government: peaks between August-March.
- Biotech/Pharma: peaks between September-March
- Policy: peaks between January-March
Internship Recruiting Timeline
Internship Insights
Although we observe patterns by industry as shown above, Internship opportunities for Friedman students across industries are generally “just-in-time”, and thus posted throughout the academic year. We have observed that internship postings generally peak in September through November for particular industries and postings for summer internship opportunities across industries peak in February through April as detailed below:
- Peak #1: Mid-September through mid-November
- Federal fellowships
- Consulting
- Peak #2: Mid-February through mid-April
- Just-in-time hiring across industries for summer internships
Note: We recommend following your target companies and/or setting up search bots to alert you when positions are interest are posted and applying within 24-48 hours of posting.
