Hi, why did BCG reached out to me to apply to a research and consulting role without considering me for the pure consulting role that I already have applied to in Dubai?

Hi there,

I agree with Nikita, it seems your profile is seen as more related to the researcher role than the consultant one. It could be that your CV was not tailored to showcase your potential as a consultant, have you got feedback from an experienced partner/coach on that?

At McKinsey I have seen this happened with 3 friends of mine. They all accepted the researcher role and became consultants (BAs) after about 2-4 years. However, this is not guaranteed, most researchers remain in the R&I department and make their career there. Also, 2-4 years may be a long period of time. Salaries are also lower (in Brazil, about 30% comparing an R&I analyst vs a first year BA).  The upside is that usually the lifestyle is better (almost no traveling, fewer working hours) and the job is also interesting.

If you are not interested in this position, signalize it to the recruiter and apply for other companies to have a backup plan.

Good luck!

Best,

Mari

Hey,

That means that they see your working experience more fitting to a research role than to a consulting role. If you don't want to pursue the research track in the long run, you have two options here:

1. Try and convince BCG to reconsider the role you are interviewing for (which might be difficult);

2. Apply to other T1/T2 consulting firms as a generalist instead;

If you are ok working as a researcher, you can try getting BCG research offer, work there for some time and then apply to other consulting firms as a generalist as it's going to be really hard (but not impossible) to switch from a research to a consulting track within the same company. Therefore, the decision is yours to make.

Good luck,
Nick

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, unfortunately, no one can seriously answer the question of why they offered you a different role than the one you applied for.
• Moreover, I would highly advise you to contact them and clarify the situation to know for sure.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming BCG interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hello there, which research role were you referring to? Are you asking about the Knowledge Team (KT) role?

Generally speaking, they are looking for strong candidates they believe are a good fit! This shouldn’t stop you from applying for the generalist consulting role if you’re not specifically interested in the KT role. Additionally, BCG typically does not proactively reach out for generalist roles unless the position is fairly senior (Principal+), where they want someone with certain expertise. 

Hi there,

Q: Why did BCG reached out to me to apply to a research and consulting role without considering me for the pure consulting role that I already have applied to in Dubai?

Most likely, they consider your profile more suitable for the research role. Hence, they would like to move the application to that.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hey!

It's possible that BCG reached out to you for the research and consulting role because they are looking for someone with a specific expertise that aligns with the role's focus, rather than a generalist profile. Consulting roles, especially in places like Dubai, can be highly competitive, and they may have seen your skills as a better fit for a specialized role where your background would provide more immediate value. It’s also possible they see potential in you for a different area of the business and want to explore that avenue with you.

Alessa

Hey there,

Without knowing more information about this (and assuming that you made 2 applications to BCG for these roles), it could be because they feel your more suited for that role, or it could be that two different recruiters were screening your applications and one reached out to you before the other, etc. 

In general, we could speculate all the possible reasons, but ultimately I think it would be good practice to reach out to recruiting and ask about the status of your other application and take things from there

All the best

The simple answer is that think your profile is more suited to research rather than the generalist role. 

If the generalist role is the only role you are willing to consider, then you need to either

1. Revamp / sharpen your application
2. Consider other firms, including T2 

Hi there,

I do not know since I don't have any insights into your application and profile.

The most likely reasons are:

1. Your profile fits the r&c role better
2. There are more qualified applicants for the general consulting role already

All the best,

Florian