BCG Fit Interview

Question

I have my first BCG Atlanta interview focusing on fit for 30 minutes. What questions should I expect? How is BCG distinct from Bain and McKinsey? I'm more familiar with the latter two firms. All of the BCG consultants I spoke to seemed burned out and almost as if they were warning me against consulting, so I lack specific positives to mention. I want to learn more about the positives of BCG to convey genuine interest in the interviews.

Answer 1

Hi there,

In terms of fit, BCG interviews are typically less standardized and a bit more casual than at certain other consultancies (e.g. McK).

For a fit only interview, you can expect a tilt towards motivational questions. Some very common ones are..

Walk me through your CV
Why Consulting?
Why BCG?
Why You?
Your development areas (weaknesses)?
Your ambitions
Your experience in a certain field / industries (if you're a lateral hire or applying to expert roles)

Besides, while less common, you might face behavioral questions ("Tell me about a time") that are more similar to and a shorter version of McK-style PEI questions.

If you'd like to learn more about how to answer BCG-specific questions, feel free to reach out to me or any other of the coaches with real experience as BCG interviewer.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Answer 2

Haha, your honesty is hilarious.

They probably were burned out. So I understand the difficulty around finding the positives.

So, based on my latest candidates who interviewed with Bain in the US, 80% of the focus of this 30 min discussion was on:

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Why consulting?

3. Why Bain?

A few points of advice on each of them:
1. Tell me about yourself

Develop a personal pitch of 1-2 minutes
Keep it short, keep it conversational
Give it an intrinsic structure. e.g., i studied this, then did this, then did this
Show how one event led to another (sequencing)
And position your story so that you now getting this offer is the logical next step
Last but not least, give a glimpse into the ‘personal’ you as well, not only the professional - things you enjoy doing

2. Why consulting?

This will differ from person to person, but aim at least to have a structured answered centered around 2-3 points
Try to connect these points with experiences from your past which you present in story form
Talk about the skills that would make you a great fit
And talk about the future that you envision for yourself and how consulting is a core step in achieving that vision

3. Why Bain?

This needs to be super tailored to the firm
Avoid saying stuff that anybody can read off the website
Ideally talk about the things that you know about that are specific to Bain that you know from Bain consultants (try to think whether in all that negativity there were also good things)
Think genuinely what attracts you to Bain (if it's the brand, that's also totally ok to say)
Use the power of your authenticity.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

I highly recommend you read my 3 Whys article: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

I actually specifically answer why BCG and provide you with the answer I gave!

BCG consultants are going to be just as burned out as McKinsey and Bain ones…if you think you won't be, you might want to reconsider this job…

Remember that the benefit of MBB is not work-life balance. It's succeeding professionally, getting exposure, learning and developing a ton, building a strong betwork, etc. etc.