Quick Facts
PA Consulting internship · at a glance
Roles open and close throughout the year. Check PA Consulting's careers portal for what is live today, and apply in the first week a role posts.
Before you applyWould your profile get you in?6 questions, under a minute. Compared with real interns who landed similar roles.Check my oddsAlso in this guide
Put real project work on your résumé, with the Pinterest Gen Z Consumer Behavior Externship or the Breaking Games E-Commerce Data Analysis & Strategy Externship.
Explore all externships →All quick facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | PA Consulting early careers vacancies (SmartRecruiters), linked from the early careers page. PA warns about recruiter impersonation, so use only links from those two sites |
| Application window (2027–28) | Fall 2026 design internship (Boston): posted Aug 7, 2026, still listed Oct 12, 2026, no deadline stated. Summer 2027 design internship, expected: around Feb 2027 (low confidence, one prior cycle). Full-time analyst roles for 2027 starts (Denver): posted Oct 1 and 2, 2026, no deadline stated. US summer consulting internship: not offered |
| Rolling? | No deadline is stated on any US posting. The summer 2026 UX/UI design listing was on Built In for 14 days (Feb 11 to 25, 2026), so treat design postings as short windows |
| Eligibility | Design intern: pursuing or recently completed a degree in industrial design or a related field, portfolio required. Analyst: bachelor's or master's expected by fall/winter 2026 or spring 2027. No GPA minimum or sponsorship line stated |
| Duration | About 4 months (Fall 2026 industrial design); 3 months (Summer 2026 UX/UI design) |
| Compensation | $33 an hour on the Fall 2026 Industrial Design Intern posting. The Summer 2026 UX/UI posting listed $27 to $35 (Built In copy). Full-time analyst postings list $86,750 to $106,050 a year, which isn't intern pay |
| Return offers | Not published for US design interns. PA's "return as an analyst" wording is written for Norway and other European offices |
| Locations | Internships: Boston, in person. Open analyst postings: Denver. PA names Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York for US early careers |
| # Programs | 1 US internship type (design, by term) plus full-time Early Career analyst roles. No US summer consulting internship |
Last updated: October 2026
PA Consulting doesn't run a summer consulting internship in the United States. Its own early careers page lists summer internships for the UK and Norway, and describes the US offer as full-time campus hiring: analyst after a bachelor's degree, consultant analyst after a master's. The US internships that do exist are design roles at PA's Boston studio, posted one term at a time. On October 12, 2026, PA's job board listed one: an Industrial Design Intern for fall 2026 at $33 an hour, posted August 7, 2026. Nothing is posted for summer 2027 yet.
In plain words: a design internship for summer 2027 is expected to post around February 2027, only three to four months before it starts, because the summer 2026 UX/UI design internship was listed on February 11, 2026. If you want consulting, you apply in your final year for a full-time analyst role. Two of those, for 2027 starts in Denver, were open on October 12, 2026.
What Is a PA Consulting Internship?
A PA Consulting internship in the US is a paid, in-person design role at the firm's Boston studio, lasting about three to four months and posted for a specific term. It isn't a consulting internship. The Fall 2026 posting asks for an Industrial Design Intern "to join our team for approximately 4 months," working with designers, engineers, strategists and technologists on client and internal projects.
PA Consulting is a UK-headquartered consultancy that describes itself as "over 4,000" specialists with "offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands." Jacobs completed its acquisition of the remaining stake on March 23, 2026, so PA is now wholly owned by Jacobs. Our Jacobs internship guide covers the parent company's own US internships. PA still recruits under its own name on its own job board.
Vault's 2026 practice-area rankings list PA Consulting Group #15 for energy consulting and #18 for aerospace and defense consulting. PA doesn't publish US intern numbers, a US intern class size or a conversion rate.
When Do PA Consulting Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
PA's US design internships don't follow a fall recruiting calendar. They're posted by term, close to the start date. Three postings show the pattern. A three-month industrial design internship in Boston started in February 2026, according to a third-party listing. The UX/UI Design Intern role for summer 2026 was listed on Built In on February 11, 2026 and removed on February 25, 2026, about three to four months before a summer start. The Industrial Design Intern role for fall 2026 was posted on August 7, 2026, a month or so before the term.
Projecting that forward, a design internship for summer 2027 is expected to post around February 2027, and one for fall 2027 around August 2027. Both estimates rest on a single prior cycle, so treat them as low confidence. The full-time analyst roles for 2027 starts were posted on October 1 and 2, 2026.
One US internship is listed: Industrial Design Intern, Fall 2026, in Boston, posted August 7, 2026. No US internship for 2027 is posted yet. Two full-time Early Career analyst roles for 2027 starts are open in Denver.
A design internship for a winter or spring 2027 term may post in this stretch, projected from the Boston industrial design term that started in February 2026. Low confidence. Use the time to finish your portfolio.
A design internship for summer 2027 is expected to post. Last cycle the summer 2026 UX/UI Design Intern role was on Built In from February 11 to February 25, 2026, so the window may be about two weeks.
A summer 2027 design internship in Boston, if PA posts one, would run about three months, as the summer 2026 role did. PA's summer consulting internships run in the UK and Norway, not in the US.
A fall 2027 design term is expected to post around August 2027, and full-time analyst roles for 2028 starts around October 2027, based on the August 7 and October 1 and 2 posting dates in 2026.
How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.
Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open
PA's design postings appear late and don't stay long. The summer 2026 UX/UI Design Intern role was listed on Built In for 14 days, from February 11 to February 25, 2026, and the fall 2026 industrial design role was posted on August 7, 2026 for a term starting weeks later. No US posting states a deadline, so there's no date to plan around. The posting is either on the board or it isn't.
That makes the routine simple. Check PA's early careers list every week from January for a summer term and from July for a fall term, and keep your portfolio ready to send the day a role appears. The same goes for the analyst roles: earlier this fall a Chicago growth strategy analyst posting for 2027 appeared in search results, and it was no longer on the board on October 12, 2026.
Which PA Consulting Internship Programs Should You Target?
In the US, PA has two doors for students: term-based design internships in Boston and full-time Early Career analyst roles. This is what its board and recent listings show.
| Route | What it is | Location | Status and stated pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Design Intern, Fall 2026 | Paid, in-person internship of about 4 months: sketching, CAD modeling, rendering, prototyping | Boston | Listed; posted Aug 7, 2026; $33/hr |
| UX/UI Design Intern, Summer 2026 | 3-month internship on the Digital Experience team: user research, wireframes, prototypes | Boston | Closed; removed from Built In Feb 25, 2026; listed at $27 to $35/hr. A summer 2027 version is expected around Feb 2027 |
| Industrial Design Intern, term starting Feb 2026 | 3-month internship | Boston | Closed (third-party listing) |
| Early Career, Energy & Utilities Market Analyst (2027) | Full-time entry-level role, not an internship: market forecasting, quantitative and financial analysis | Denver | Open; posted Oct 1, 2026; $86,750 to $106,050 a year |
| Early Career, Energy & Utilities Policy & Regulatory Analyst (2027) | Full-time entry-level role, not an internship: policy, regulatory and market research | Denver | Open; posted Oct 2, 2026; $86,750 to $106,050 a year |
| Summer consulting internship | PA's structured summer internships for consulting teams | UK and Norway only | Not offered in the US |
PA's early careers page says US roles are "available within our consulting teams in our Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, or New York offices," though the analyst postings open on October 12, 2026 were both in Denver. All current vacancies are on the early careers list.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
The requirements depend on which door you're using. From the three US early-career postings on PA's board:
• Design intern, education: "currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Industrial Design or a related field."
• Design intern, portfolio: required. The posting says "Applications must include a portfolio" showing your design process, concept development, physical prototyping and visual storytelling.
• Design intern, work model: paid and in person at the Boston studio.
• Analyst, education: a bachelor's or master's degree "expected by Fall/Winter 2026 or Spring 2027." The market analyst role lists economics, finance, engineering, mathematics, statistics, data science or energy studies; the policy role lists public policy, economics, political science, environmental or energy studies.
• Analyst, other routes: both postings welcome people from apprenticeships, workforce programs, military service and other non-traditional pathways.
• Analyst, work model: hybrid, in the office or on a client site at least two days a week.
Does PA Consulting Set a GPA Minimum or Sponsor Visas?
Neither is stated. We read all three US early-career postings on PA's board in full, and none gives a GPA minimum, a work authorization requirement or a sponsorship policy. That silence isn't a yes. If you need sponsorship, ask the recruiter before you invest in the application. Also note the class-year logic: the design internship takes current students and recent graduates, while the analyst roles are for people finishing a degree by spring 2027. There's no US role built for sophomores or juniors who want a consulting summer.
Profile Match · Extern Data
Could You Get In at PA Consulting? Compare Your Profile
Based on 143 consulting interns at top consulting firms from the classes of 2025 and 2026 (public LinkedIn profiles, aggregated). Six questions, under a minute.
Which summer are you applying for?
Recruiting timelines differ by class year, so we compare you with the right group.
Which group is your school closest to?
Firms recruit on campus in tiers. We match you against admits from schools like yours.
Is your major business, finance, economics or management?
Major is not a hard filter, but it shifts how much your coursework has to prove.
How many internships, externships or research positions have you held so far?
Count anything with a real employer, mentor or principal investigator attached. Retail and food service do not count.
Has any of that experience been consulting-, finance- or research-related?
Consulting, finance, research or analyst roles at any size of firm.
Are you in a consulting club, case competition team or business fraternity?
Case competitions are where most consulting admits get their first structured-problem reps.
Aggregated from public LinkedIn profiles of people who held the internship. No individual profile is shown. Read the full consulting intern profile analysis and the cross-industry study of 2,500+ intern profiles.
What Skills Does PA Consulting Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
PA's US postings split into two skill sets. Design interns need a portfolio and studio tools: the Fall 2026 posting asks for 2D skills (sketching, Adobe Creative Suite), 3D modeling and rendering ("SolidWorks and KeyShot preferred") and "hands-on prototyping and model-making experience." The summer 2026 UX/UI posting asked for Figma, user research methods and interactive prototypes. Both mention generative AI tools such as Midjourney and Vizcom. Analysts need office tools and analysis: both Denver postings say "Experience with Excel, PowerPoint, and Word required," and the market analyst role calls Python, R, SQL and visualization tools "a plus." Shared across all four are research, problem solving and clear communication with mixed teams.
What PA Consulting looks for in interns
Skills across 4 PA Consulting intern & analyst job descriptions · US design intern and Early Career analyst postings, 2026
Method: full-text reading of four PA Consulting US postings: the Industrial Design Intern (Fall 2026) and two Early Career analyst roles live on its board on October 12, 2026, plus the closed UX/UI Design Intern (Summer 2026) from its Built In copy. A small sample from one employer, so read it as PA's wording, not a ranking.
How Is Demand for Product Design Interns Moving Right Now?
Product design intern postings · Sep vs Aug 2026
vs 41 in August
For PA Consulting applicants: PA's board listed one US internship on October 12, 2026, an Industrial Design Intern for fall 2026 in Boston at $33 an hour, and nothing yet for summer 2027. Its summer 2026 design internship was listed in February 2026, so check the board from January.
Daily US job-posting counts, Sep 1–30 vs Aug 1–31, 2026. Covers under half of US postings; shows direction, not market size.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
No open Externship is a studio design match, so these map to the research and analysis parts of PA's postings.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| User and consumer research | UX/UI Design Intern (Summer 2026): "Conduct user research"; Industrial Design Intern: "research and ideation" | Pinterest Gen Z Consumer Behavior |
| Large-dataset analysis | Market Analyst: "Analyze large datasets to identify trends, risks, and opportunities" | Breaking Games E-Commerce Data Analysis & Strategy |
| Financial analysis and valuation | Market Analyst: "Support energy infrastructure investment and asset valuation assessments" | Yinan Zhao Investing & Financial Modeling |
| Strategy recommendations | Policy & Regulatory Analyst: "Support strategy development and stakeholder engagement activities" | Lean Startup Co. Corporate Strategy Externship Mentored by Eric Ries |
For the design internship itself, your portfolio does the work. An Externship can add a research project to it, but it won't replace sketching, CAD and physical models.
What Is the PA Consulting Application and Interview Process Like?
PA doesn't publish US interview steps, and its early careers FAQ is written for UK programs, so we haven't borrowed those details. What the US postings and PA's page do say:
1. Pick the right door. Design students apply to the term-titled design internship in Boston. Consulting students apply to a full-time Early Career analyst posting in their final year.
2. Apply on SmartRecruiters. Every US vacancy is on PA's own board. Design applications must include a portfolio; the summer 2026 UX/UI posting said applications without one would be disregarded.
3. Interviews. The format for US roles isn't published. Expect to walk through your portfolio for design roles and your analysis for analyst roles.
4. Ask for adjustments if you need them. The postings give recruitmentenquiries@paconsulting.com for accommodations at application or interview.
5. Check who's contacting you. PA warns that "imposters pretending to be PA Consulting recruiters" have approached people with job offers.
Our behavioral interview guide covers the teamwork and problem-solving questions that fit the traits PA lists.
What the Community Says
We found no first-hand account of a US PA Consulting internship or US analyst recruiting on Reddit, Vault or Indeed. The Reddit threads that exist are about PA's UK, Denmark and Ireland programs, which work differently, so we've left them out and won't guess.
How Do You Stand Out for a PA Consulting Internship?
Three moves. First, treat the portfolio as the application. PA lists what it must show: a documented design process, concept generation and refinement, physical prototyping and model-making, strong visual storytelling and "a distinctive point of view." Lead with one project that covers all of them. Second, name PA's tools. SolidWorks and KeyShot for 3D, Adobe Creative Suite for 2D, Figma for UX/UI, and some honest experiments with Vizcom or Midjourney. For analyst roles, show Excel work first; Python, R and SQL are a plus. Third, watch the board by term. Design roles are titled by term and appear weeks ahead, so check weekly from January for summer and from July for fall. PA publishes no US applicant count, class size or conversion rate.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
If you wanted a US summer consulting internship, these firms run one. ICF is PA's neighbor on Vault's energy consulting list.
- West MonroeUS consulting firm with energy and utilities and digital work, and a summer intern classGuide →
- KearneyStrategy and operations consulting with US summer hiringGuide →
- Roland BergerEuropean-headquartered consultancy that hires students in the USGuide →
- AccentureConsulting and design (Accenture Song) internships at large scaleGuide →
- ICFEnergy, climate and public sector consulting, with hourly paid summer internsGuide →
Our consulting internships summer 2027 guide compares recruiting calendars across firms, and the design internships summer 2027 guide covers more studio and product design employers.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 PA Consulting internship?
No. PA's summer 2026 UX/UI Design Intern role in Boston was removed from Built In on February 25, 2026. On October 12, 2026, the only US internship on PA's board was an Industrial Design Intern for fall 2026. A design internship for summer 2027 is expected to post around February 2027.
Does PA Consulting have a summer consulting internship in the US?
No. PA's early careers page describes its US offer as full-time campus hiring, with analysts joining after a bachelor's degree and consultant analysts after a master's. Its summer internships for consulting teams are in the UK and Norway. The US internships PA does post are design roles at its Boston studio.
When do PA Consulting internship applications open for summer 2027?
Nothing is posted for summer 2027 yet. Based on the last cycle, when the summer 2026 UX/UI design internship was listed on February 11, 2026, a summer 2027 design internship is expected around February 2027. That's a low-confidence estimate from one prior cycle, so check PA's board weekly from January.
How much do PA Consulting interns make in the US?
The Fall 2026 Industrial Design Intern posting in Boston lists $33 an hour. The summer 2026 UX/UI design internship was listed at $27 to $35 an hour in the Built In copy of the posting. The full-time analyst roles in Denver list $86,750 to $106,050 a year, which is a salary, not intern pay.
How long is a PA Consulting internship?
About three to four months. The Fall 2026 Industrial Design Intern posting says the role lasts approximately four months, and the summer 2026 UX/UI Design Intern role was listed as three months. Both are in person at PA's Boston design studio, working on client and internal projects with designers and engineers.
How do new graduates join PA Consulting in the US?
Through full-time Early Career analyst postings. Two for 2027 starts were open in Denver on October 12, 2026, in energy and utilities market analysis and in policy and regulation. Both are for people finishing a bachelor's or master's degree by fall/winter 2026 or spring 2027, and both list $86,750 to $106,050.
Do I need a portfolio for a PA Consulting design internship?
Yes. The Fall 2026 Industrial Design Intern posting says applications must include a portfolio showing your design process, concept development, physical prototyping and visual storytelling. The summer 2026 UX/UI posting went further and said applications without any form of portfolio would be disregarded. Have yours ready before the role posts.
Is PA Consulting part of Jacobs?
Yes. Jacobs made a strategic investment in PA Consulting in March 2021 and completed its acquisition of the remaining stake on March 23, 2026. PA still recruits students under its own name on its own SmartRecruiters board, separate from Jacobs' US internship postings, so apply through PA's early careers page.
PA's US internships are design roles that post late and close fast, and its consulting route is a full-time analyst job. Keep your portfolio or your analysis sample ready, and add finished work to it: a remote Externship gives you a research or data project you can show.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
