Thinking of applying to BCG Madrid, defer or apply now?

Hi there,

Unfortunately not a good situation for everyone involved, also considering that large parts of the consulting staff are on the beach currently for all MBBs and other firms.

There has been a lot of sugarcoating or ignorance about the outlook here since the summer/fall of last year.

My observations regarding the current situation are the following:

Personal experience

Some of my clients' interviews were already rescheduled or even strong profiles were asked to re-apply/continue their application in Q3 and later after having completed recruiting tests with good scores or having been through screening.

Impact on hiring

While for all firms fewer people make it through resume screening, only some firms adjust the bar for the interviews. The latter are happy to find enough people to make it through the selection process. In that case, they would extend offers, potentially with starting dates further in the future.

We might even see a full hiring stop, depending on how bad the situation becomes. Generally, experienced hires are doing better than graduate hires at the moment. Same goes for specialists.

Impact on engagements and job security

External advisor spending is usually one of the first expenses to be cut during an economic crisis.

Yes, recovery and transformation projects increase, but every other consulting vertical decreases by much more. I have been told stories from 2008/09, where new hires were not staffed for 6 months and then let go without ever having worked on an actual engagement. 

It all depends on how bad the global economic situation is going to get. My hunch last year was that we see a partial to full-hiring stop by early this year for a couple of months up to 1 year. This seems to materialize now. Now, lay-offs have started and it is not yet clear how far it will go. It might also affect consulting staff in a couple of months. KPMG has already started.

On top of that, keep in mind that tech firms and other industries already started their lay-offs, which means that the potential supply of job seekers increases even more compared to now lower demand for them.

At this point, it makes sense to have valid backup options available, potentially for industries that are less affected by external events (e.g., pharmaceuticals).

I have been interviewed on the topic here: https://www.semafor.com/article/02/16/2023/the-rich-are-getting-poorer

Nonetheless, I would recommend that you start applying now because 

1. you will not know how the situation evolves and it might get worse still.
2. you can likely get a second chance if you are now affected by a hiring stop. You might be asked to apply again in the fall (without a ban period).

All the best for your applications! 

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

Q: Thinking of applying to BCG Madrid, defer or apply now?

I don’t have info on BCG Madrid, but both McKinsey and Bain Madrid are still hiring (I am helping a candidate right now who has invitations for both).

The strategy I would recommend to define whether to apply now for BCG is the following:

1. Find a referral in that office. This is going to be useful anyways to maximize your chances of an invitation
2. Ask the person referring if now is a good time to apply. In the current situation, the same company might hire in one office for certain positions but not in others. So getting the perspective of an insider is going to be very useful

You can find more on how to find referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation

▶ The Exact Steps to Get a Referral

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, and contrary to what other coaches said, nobody knows for certain when the best moment will be for you to apply. While there is a possibility that we will reach the economic low soon, this might as well take another 6-12 months, about which I feel you would not be willing to wait for obvious reasons.
• As such, I would highly advise you to ensure you submit the best possible application, including polished application files and a strong referral, and apply whenever you feel ready for the interviews.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Dear applicant,

a) what is your objective 

b) what alternatives do you have, in the meantime to professionally advance, 

c) what would you like to achieve right now?

You can add some flexibility for yourself to these answers and see what works best for you. Most importantly think not just long- term, think right now, how do I arrive at my goal right now? It is easy to push things further our, but really it seems you are trying to solve how to right now achieve your professional goals. Start from there and the answer will be easy to find.

You can also consider your other interests outside your career, or your other wishes for your current situation. It seems that you already have strong goals right now and it is worth understanding how to pursue them. 

I also offer a lot of entrepreneurial and divinity perspectives on this. For example from a divinity point of view you could also pursue all that is best for you first instead of thinking one particular office.

Best regards,

Hi there,

agree with Francesco here. A few more thoughts:

1. Yes, macroeconomic situation is not ideal and impact the recruiting. Yet, BCG is not on a hiring freeze, so in general you can still apply.

2. Yes, recruiting is tighter and the firm will look more closely at the moment. However, if your profile is strong, should not be an issue to get invited.

3. To improve your chances to get through screening, make sure you get a strong referral (and validate the timing with the referrer, as Francesco highlighted) - especially important in the current conditions, but this principle generally applies.

Hope this helps - if you'd like to learn more about how to best tackle 3, feel free to reach out.

Regards, Andi

Hello,

While your concern is valid, it is unclear to predict if the situation is about to get better or worse. Thus, it doesn't hurt to apply now.

I have indeed seen some of my juniors from IESE get placed in BCG Madrid, so although hiring is slowing down, it is not a bad time to apply.

Hope this helps,

Rushabh

Hi there,

100% agree with Francesco here.

You need to network.

You should apply when you feel you have maximized your networking potential (ideally a referral) and when those people have confirmed it is a good time to apply.

Hi there, 

The ‘best time’ to apply changes so fast that it's always smarter to apply than not to apply at all. Even when firms ramp down hiring, they still hire, so it's better to go for it anyway. 

The next logical step then is to maximize your chances of passing the screening. That means working on the application itself (CV and cover letter) and getting a referral. Here is an article about how to leverage coffee chats to get the latter - https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/coffee-chat-questions-consulting

Best,

Cristian

Not sure what you gain by applying later. You do realize you can apply now… and later again if they dont interview you now?