I have been recently invited to the AC for a major consultancy. Of the two dates available, the recruiter said they would prefer I come to the first one which, however, I will have to miss, since I am out of town and unlikely to get a flight back in time for the AC. He sort of hinted on the phone that they will be making offer straight after the AC, hence, why I should try to make it to the first round. Later in the e-mail he said its fine if I can't make it, they will just schedule me for the next one. I am worried that not making it to the first round will be understood as the lack of enthusiasm for the role, or that they might fill in all the positions with the first round of AC and have the second round just for the sake of it, or maybe cancel it before it takes place. What do you guys think? Thanks

I have a different point of view, top tier companies look for top tier candidates who are expected to be fully engaged with clients and have other planned commitments.Being out of town on a client site is definitely a good excuse, being out of country on vacation is justifiable, however just being out of town while for example you are in Coventry and the interview is in Birmingham while you have 1+ week notice is definitely a lack of interest. As a consultant, typically you are expected to be out of town 5 days, if traveling down for an interview is too much for you handle then you are definitely in the wrong business.The point that I am trying to make is that out of town itself is not a good reason! Its perfectly fine to reschedule interviews, but you need to have a clear and a good reason.P.S: Accenture pays for your expenses to travel down for an interview.

Sorry i have Missed the part of you needing a flight back. That's perfectly fine I hope :)

Hey, thanks for your reply. Yes, so its not really out of town as much as outside the country - southern Europe in fact, and its not only a vacation but some family matters that I have to travel to. I wondered if perhaps those who come to the first round will have much bigger chance of getting an offer, or if they simply like everyone in the first round, they won't bother much with the second round - is this how it works? :)

As far as I am aware it is not on first come first serve basis. If you are invited to an interview then this means they are still interested and would be present you a job offer if you seem like a good fit.Your concern is valid for smaller companies which hire on project basis and stop hiring process once they have got required resources. Companies like Accenture and Deloitte hire to maintain a pool of good resources who may or may not be allocated right away.