Best method to secure a referral at BCG?

Hello!

The classical is cold-calling via LinkedIn, but I would avoid this approach if possible honestly. 

If you cannot leverage any existing network, the best would be to attend recruiting events and get to know consultants for real. There are plenty -the Recruiting part of HR does them all the time, and there is people totally dedicated to this-, so check their websites or even give them a call. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hello,

The only way is to introduce yourself to someone that is currently working for BCG.
Try to leverage both your personal and professional network and to get a contact of someone inside. Another good method is to join some workshops/events organised by BCG, they organise a lot of them.
You could even try to add someone on Linkedin but I don't really suggest it.

Bear in mind that having a referral is important but not necessary for most of the offices in the world. It really depends on your CV, feel free to send me a copy in order to have a quick feedback.

Best,
Luca

Hi,

The best would be:

1. Reaching out to the recruiting partner who is directly responsible for experienced hires. In case you have an interesting background he can connect you to the right partners who require your expertise and you would not need a referral. You can get the idea of who that partner is by attending BCG events for experienced hires
2. Reaching out to people with whom you have smth in common - ideally friends of friends or alums of the same university. Ask them for advice and they'll be ready to help

Best

One idea is to read some of the insight publications that you find interesting and reach out to one of the authors.  You'll have to have valid points to ask them about, and maybe some insights of your own that are impressive enough to warrant a follow-up email/call.

Note: I haven't actually tried this, but before I developed a network, I did consider doing this.

To give you a dose of reality, networking is hard. Even after I'd made a some internal BCG contacts, my application to attend their local experienced hire open house was rejected. My contact helped to get me into the event, which turned out to be critical to me getting an interview.  My initial conversation with the recruiter when poorly, so I scheduled time with one of the consultants I'd met at the open house to discuss a shared interest/business idea, and I think he helped push my interview through.

To give you a bit of encouragement, networking does eventually pay off, and even distant connections help.  My BCG referral actually came from a 1) friend's 2) mom's 3) former coworker's 4) BCG contact who'd reached out to #3 when looking for exit opportunities, who put me in touch with 5) another BCGer with interests similar to mine.  The process took a few months.  But even though #5 is based in a different city and I ultimately didn't get an offer from BCG, I will be meeting with her this week to continue discussing some of our shared business interests

It's totally a game, but it can be rewarding in the end.  Keep at it!