You’ve impressed BCG with your CV and made it to the next recruitment round? Congratulations! Before moving on to the case interview, you may first need to demonstrate your skills in the BCG Consulting Career Assessment (CCA). With this online test, BCG wants to assess whether you have the right cognitive and soft skills to succeed in consulting.
The CCA has been part of the recruitment process since 2024 and is currently used mainly in the US offices, with a gradual rollout to other locations. It typically comes right after the review of your resume and application and determines whether you advance to the interview stage.
The test lasts about 30 to 40 minutes and consists of two parts: behavioral questions and logic- and pattern-based tasks. Together, they evaluate not only your analytical thinking but also your interpersonal skills and decision-making under time pressure. In this article, we’ll walk you through what to expect and how to prepare with confidence.
Understanding the structure of the CCA is essential for effective preparation. Each phase of the test serves a unique purpose, and being familiar with what’s coming can reduce stress and improve your performance.
You begin with a short instructions phase that explains the format and navigation. This includes time limits, question types, and how to submit answers. Use this time to familiarize yourself with the interface and tools available.
After the instructions, you’ll enter the behavioral questions section. These questions aim to assess how you react in various real-world scenarios, particularly under stress or when managing conflicting interests. BCG is especially interested in how your experiences reflect its core values such as collaboration, curiosity, and impact.
You might encounter prompts like:
Your answers should highlight structured thinking, self-awareness, and strong interpersonal judgment. Outline the situation and your task, explain your reasoning or analytical steps, describe the specific actions you took, and conclude with a clear, quantifiable result – ideally aligned with BCG’s values such as teamwork, impact, and integrity.
👉 Our Stress Questions Tool is designed to help you excel in behavioral interviews. Try it to practice your answers against the clock and gain confidence for behavioral questions.
The final section of the test consists of logic and brain teaser puzzles, designed to measure your analytical thinking, pattern recognition, and ability to work quickly under pressure. These questions might include visual pattern recognition, number series, or abstract reasoning problems. Since time is limited, practicing how to approach unfamiliar problems quickly is crucial.
👉 Practice Brain Teasers and Logical Drills on PrepLounge to perform well in this part of the CCA.
Many candidates wonder what comes next once they hit “submit.” After completing the CCA, your performance is reviewed by BCG’s recruiting team. They assess your fit in two major areas: behavioral alignment and cognitive aptitude.
If you perform well, you’ll typically be invited to a first-round interview, which combines traditional case interviews with behavioral or “fit” interviews. If your performance doesn’t meet BCG’s benchmark, you may receive feedback or a polite rejection. This step is crucial because it acts as a gatekeeper between the resume phase and personal interviews.
BCG uses several online tools to assess candidates. While all of them aim to predict consulting potential, the CCA has a unique format and focus. Here’s how it compares to two other common BCG assessments:
The Pymetrics test is a gamified, short neurological assessment used by BCG to evaluate a candidate’s cognitive, emotional, and social traits through a series of engaging mini-games. These games are designed to assess how you approach risk, handle emotions, adapt to change, and respond to social cues. These traits can indicate your potential fit within team environments and leadership situations.
Unlike the CCA, which focuses heavily on logic puzzles, pattern recognition, and structured behavioral reflection, the Pymetrics test typically involves no written responses or traditional problem-solving. It is often used early in the process to provide a broader personality profile of each candidate.
The Online Case or HireQuotient assessments are designed to simulate real-world consulting projects. Candidates are presented with a business scenario and are asked to solve the problem using structured analysis. You’ll work through a series of slides, charts, and data sets, selecting the most appropriate next steps from multiple-choice options and providing recommendations based on your interpretation of quantitative and qualitative information.
👉 Check out our Case Library with a wide variety of practice cases to improve your casing skills!
In contrast, the CCA is more focused on raw cognitive ability, particularly pattern recognition, mental agility, and behavioral reflection. Understanding which test you're taking and what each one is truly measuring is key to tailoring your preparation effectively.
Success in the CCA depends on more than just intelligence. Strategic preparation can dramatically improve your performance. Here are three top strategies:
The BCG CCA is delivered via the SHL platform, a leading provider of psychometric assessments. SHL tests cover numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning, as well as situational judgment. Because the CCA mirrors SHL’s style, practice with official or high-quality SHL materials—especially on abstract pattern recognition, numerical data interpretation, and timed logic puzzles—to build speed and accuracy.
BCG values integrity, collaboration, value delivered, curiosity, diverse perspectives, drive, and a commitment to making a positive impact. Prepare specific stories from your professional, academic, or extracurricular background that illustrate how you’ve embodied these values.
Practice with a strict timer to simulate CCA conditions. Start with quick scans to gauge question difficulty, secure points on easier ones first, and mark tougher ones to revisit. Maintain focus by keeping a steady rhythm, avoiding overthinking, and concentrating on the current task to ensure consistent performance.
The BCG Consulting Career Assessment (CCA) is a crucial step in BCG’s recruitment process, designed to evaluate both behavioral fit and cognitive aptitude before the interview stage. It is completed after resume screening and includes three distinct phases: an instruction section, a behavioral questions section, and a series of logic and brain teasers, all under time pressure.
The CCA stands apart from other BCG assessments like the Pymetrics test and the Online Case by emphasizing pattern recognition, mental agility, and alignment with BCG’s core values. Strong preparation strategies include practicing SHL-style assessments, reflecting on personal experiences that demonstrate curiosity and impact, and mastering time management under stress. Performing well in the CCA can be a decisive factor in progressing to the interview rounds.
