Hello, congrats!

Given the profile of the interviewers (in this case, from Junior Partner, up), you can expect it to be "less structured". The interviewer, much more experience, can have a much more "personal" style and leave the traditional script.

This can affect both FIT (skipping the traditional questions and free riding) and Business Case (where there can be less conventional and structured, such as, "I Just bought a bus, what shall I do with it to maximize my profits?")

The way to prep is tough the same, by practicing as much as you can! If you can find senior candidates who have gone thorugh the same, better. Also coaches can help with this new "twist" of the final round.

Good luck!

Best,

Clara

Hi Pascal,

the structure of the final round is the same as the first one (fit + case+ your questions); however, there is far more emphasis on communication and fit.

Specifically, the main difference you will find in a final round with partners is that at that stage they:

1. spend more time on fit questions and your alignment with the company
2. check more closely your communication (eg how you react to challenging questions)
3. may not have a “proper” structured case to present – during my final at BCG I had one interview which was made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case. That's because at the final they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company. I coached several people for BCG Dubai and some indeed got brainteaser questions there.

So in order to prepare I would concentrate on:

• Review in details your fit stories – they will matter more than in the first round. In some finals I had almost exclusively behavioral questions
• Work on your communication (reaction under pressure, how to gain time when you do not have a structure ready, connect with the interviewer, etc). This is something you can test almost exclusively in p2p mocks with peers/experts.
• Prepare cases as you did for the first round. More market sizing practice could be useful to think out of the box if you get unusual questions.

I helped several people to land offers at BCG Dubai and have 40+ real questions asked there, including final rounds ones. If interested please feel free to PM me.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:

1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session

2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:

• The interviewer may be interested in details about the context
• He may want to check whether this was your effort or more sort of a team effort.
• “Have you faced any difficulties while implementing your solution?”- Typically an interviewer would like you to tell him how you’ve overcome those difficulties.
• Your interviewer will check how real your story is. You should be ready to provide even more granular actions, key milestones and a breakdown of potential effects.

3) Now work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.

You may be interested, why you need to prepare several stories for each question? At the end of the day, it's not that easy to come up with all of these stories. I've answered here: Repeating Fit Interview Stories

Best

Dear Pascal,

Generally there will be more emphasis on fit questions during the final round, in which the partners would be interested to deep dive on your stories.

It is advised to prepare 2-3 different stories, in case each partners requested for different anecdotes and to display a variety of experiences within your profile.

As for the technical case, it will still be there, albeit typically the portion of it will be a bit reduced compared to the initial round. Focus on further refining your skills to breakdown and synthesize the case efficiently.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,
Nathan

Dear Pascal,

The general strucure of the interview is the same as in the firts round. However, the partners will pay more attention to your personal fit to the company, so be nicely prepared with FIT and motivational question.

If you need further insights about BCG Middle East, feel free to reach out.

Best,
André