BCG Final Round

Question

Hi All

I could be reading too much into this, but wanted some perspective. Had a first round interview with BCG two weeks ago Friday, which I passed and was invited to second round last week Friday. Feedback from the first round was overwhelmingly positive, with no strong development areas.

For the first interview (newly promoted partner), I made a couple of errors (structure and market sizing). Not sure if it was intentional, but the partner didnt seem amused, and would quickly point out the error as soon as I made it (i.e. not questioning, but just 'you are missing this in your structure').

Second interview went much better, after brainstorming the partner didnt ask for a conclusion and just said we can stop here, I asked if he wanted a conclusion and he just said 'no I think you have the solution'.

Given these two varied experiences, how good does each of the four have to be to receive an offer, or does the fact that I blew the first partner interview mean that I am dead in the water? Do the first two hold weight in the overall decision, or is the offer decision based solely on the final round performance?

Answer 1

Hi Zahid,

Well done and congratulations! I'm late in replying to this Q&A, but I'd just like to really emphasize you never know.

I've seen people who thought they aced the case/interview not get an offer. I've seen people who think they failed miserably get offers. We are not great judges of our own performance...and every interviewer has a different style.

Well done, and use this as a lesson in not trying to predict the future :)

And, you are right...the journey has just begun. Enjoy!

Answer 2

Very hard to say really..

Little mistake here & there wont cost you bigtime but a solid consistent performance in all interviews is the best way to be assured. This way you make it easy for the interviewers to say Yes. Feedback from every round matters and only in rare/exceptional circumstances, will a senior partner intervene and go against other interviewer's feedback.

Regardless, be patient , keep practising and have other options going in parallel. Remove this self created pressure.

Answer 3

Hi,

I can assure you that absolutely no one can predict the outcome of your interview based on what you said because a lot of this is so subjective. I can tell you that a few errors should not matter much in the overall context. It all depends on what the error was and what the partner's perception was of your performance etc.

I know waiting is stressful, but at this point that is the only thing you can do

Udayan

Answer 4

Hi there,

As mentioned in the other comments, it is really difficult to provide any hints.

You may have had just a “stress” interview, where the first partner was pushy and wanted to see how you reacted under pressure. Or you may have actually not done great in that interview.

Although annoying, the only thing you can do now is waiting or practice for the interviews with other companies.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 5

Hey there,

My experience with BCG interviews back in the day was very similar. I had overwhelmingly positive interview experiences, however, one (I think) junior partner was very much challenging everything I said in a stress-type interview.

Had no negative impact in the end and was just part of the game. Heard similar over and over again from peers and coachees...

That being said, hard to tell from the distance, but I would not read too much into it.

Fingers crossed!

Florian

Answer 6

Hello!

Congrats on the interview and performance.

It´s very very hard to tell and almost all is oging to be speculation... however, the decision needs to be unanimous.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 7

Agree with the others where there's not much point of speculating behaviours. Having said that some interviewers do play a '"difficult" character to see how you perform under pressure while some just have low patience of what they perceive as mediocre behaviour. My understanding for BCG, similar to other MBB, is that the offer decision is made by the final round interviewers, largely on your final round performance although they will be aware of your first round performance as well.

Fingers crossed!

Answer 8

Hi there,

I understand your worries. And as usual - we can only speculate on how to read the partners' behaviour.

The tactics they choose is just random - today, they are friendly; tomorrow, they point out your mistakes right away. Very often, it doesn't have anything to do with you personally.

Don't overthink it! Better concentrate on the preparation for the final round.

Do you need any further help?

Cheers,

GB