BCG Interview - Hiring Freeze.

Question

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to share an update regarding my recent interview process with Boston Consulting Group (BCG). After successfully completing the final stage of the interview yesterday, I received a call from the Human Resources department today. They informed me that, based on the positive feedback from my interviews, I was submitted for a specific role within the company.

Unfortunately, they mentioned that the finance department has decided to implement a hiring freeze for this particular role, and as a result, they are unable to extend an offer at this time. However, I have been informed that there may still be a possibility for future hiring.

Given the considerable time and effort I have invested in this process over the past five weeks, I am unsure about the best course of action. I would greatly appreciate any advice or insights on whether I should continue to pursue this opportunity or explore other options.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Sorry to hear. This must feel awful. Especially after you invested quite a bit of time in this process.

I'd first of all have another conversation with the recruiter and ask whether a different position would fit you better and which would be available for recruitment.

If not, then I'd take a step back and revise my entire application strategy. My advice would be to go broader with your targets, especially during the current economic climate. I've written a guide on how to best do this. You can access it for free here:

How to get a job in consulting during an economic downturn

Best,
Cristian

Answer 2

Hi there,

First of all, I am genuinely sorry to hear about this. I can imagine how demoralizing and frustrating this is.

Now, I'm going to switch tone a bit, but it's just to wake you up (Please don't picture me yelling :) )

Get over it.

You spent 5 weeks….zoom out….that's nothing! I know people who spent years to get in.

Once you're in, you know how hard it is to stay in? 5 weeks is nothing compared to what you'll have to do on the job.

Additionally, this is one of the top 3 firms in the world. Did you expect to walk right in?

If you want to be in the marines, if you want to go to the olympics, if you want to be at the top of the consulting world, you need to get stronger, more dedicated, more determined, etc.

Pick yourself back up. Buckle in for 10 times that 5 weeks.

If you want it, you have to work for it. It is not going to just be handed to you.

(By the way, I applied for BCG in undergrad and was rejected. Years later I got in.)

Here's what you need to do:

Keep in touch with them. Apply in the future when they say they're ready (likely in Summer/Fall)
Network with other firms
Apply to other firms
Get used to rejection - don't let 5 weeks of work and one single “no” put you off from a dream

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that, I heard this happening during COVID as well and I can understand how frustrating this is.

In terms of your question:

Q: Given the considerable time and effort I have invested in this process over the past five weeks, I am unsure about the best course of action.

Unfortunately you don’t have leverage now with BCG. What you could do is:

Clarify with BCG if there are different positions without a hiring freeze, and if not, when you might be able to follow up to check if the situation changed
Start to interview with other companies
If you get an offer from a competitor, reach out again to BCG to check if the situation changed

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 4

Hi Gabriel,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with BCG, despite the theoretical offer!

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, I would highly advise you to clarify with BCG at least a rough time frame for when they will be hiring for this specific role, and the possibility of starting with BCG in the closest role possible now and moving later.
If, however, you do not receive any satisfying answer from BCG, I would advise you not to dwell on this factual rejection and apply to other strategy consulting companies.
Lastly, while it is frustrating to prepare for five weeks for your BCG interviews with this outcome, you at least have the advantage that you are already interview-ready for other strategy consulting companies.

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

Answer 5

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. I imagine it's super frustrating, especially after all the hard work you put in and your excellent performance during the recruiting process.

It's very unfortunate, but there's nothing you can do at this stage to impact the duration of the hiring freeze in any way. My advice would be to try to find out some information about the hiring freeze (any projections how long it will go on for? Is there any opportunity to being switched to a different role? for instance), but also to keep looking for new roles, because it's difficult to know how long a hiring freeze can last. In the worst case, you just end up where you started, with a post-hiring freeze offer from BCG. If you find another job that works well for you, you can reach out to BCG and talk through the situation with them. But in my opinion it's not worth putting all your eggs in one basket with this, because hiring freezes can be a bit unpredictable time-wise.

Answer 6

Hi there,

this sounds like good news and bad news all at once. Congrats on impressing BCG like you did but of course sorry to hear that your role fell victim to a hiring freeze.

My advice would be to keep looking for other opportunities regardless because there is no way of telling how long this hiring freeze will last. If it gets lifted and they reach out to you with an offer before you find something else, that's great and you can still decide then. But I doubt that you would want to keep sitting on the sidelines for an unspecified amount of time with no guarantees whatsoever.

And keep in mind, if you managed to be considered by BCG, there will be plenty of other companies who will like to have you as well.

Best of luck