I got an interview at BCG London but my circumstances have changed and I need to move to India.

A friend of mine from the MBA went through the same situation. He had an offer at BCG in one country, then he wanted to relocate (out of personal reasons) to another country and he had to go throught the whole interview peocess in the new office again. He evetually got an offer at the new location, but the whole thing lasted so long, that he had already accepted another job elsewhere in the meantime.

Changing office after you have already started working there, instead, would be very different. The "ideal" way to change office would be that:

1) You start working where you have an offer

2) You try to network with your new target office (in this case India)

3) Maybe you manage to get located to a project there. In the best case, you start working there "in practice" (one projects is always followed by another one!) although you still "officially" belong to the London office

4) After ensuring you have at least one person sponsoring you in the India office (ideally someone who worked with you on a project and can tell everyone that you are the best), you start going through the formal process of relocation

I hope this was useful. Good luck!

Hi there,

If the India office already said you are not a fit, I don't think it will be useful to propose the relocation there to the London HR. You would risk to restart the process there and then to receive a formal rejection from the India office.

If you don’t have to move immediately, the best strategy would be the following:

1. Complete the process in London and get an offer there
2. Network with consultants in India and try to get a partner to support the relocation. Ideally try to be staffed in India (although I understand may not be easy)
3. After 1-2 years ask to relocate there

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

Is this a 100% immediate need to move back? As in, you have 0 control over the matter (it's not about a change of desire but a real change in situation)? Additionally, is it critical that this move happens ASAP?

If not, (i.e. you just "want" to change) you really should not ask.

However, if you really have to move, I would get on a call with HR (avoid email is you can - it's a less optimal forum for persuasion). When you speak to them (either via call or email), explain the situation and the need. You need to make sure they truly understand you have no choice. Flag that you're happy to make the shift in any way shape or form the best works for them.

Best of luck to you.

India office is very difficult to get into in comparison for many reasons especially as an Associate. If they offered you a JA role you might have to take that up as a compromise. The other alternative as suggested by the other coaches here is to wait it out for a couple of years and transfer to India. 

Note that transferring into India is also hard - this is because the salary in India is MUCH lower than salaries elsewhere. So to bring you in as an Associate for example would mean you potentially freeze your current salary till you become more senior and the India salary matches your base etc etc. Happy to discuss in more detail how to approach this as I have seen many people go through this process.

Udayan