BCG Online Test ExpensiveOil -- Tips for Solving Quickly

Question

Hi all. I am preparing for BCG's online new chatbot test with some of its older online case studies.

I've been able to get the answers all correct but am not doing so under the timelines set.

Using this test as an example (see link), does anyone have tips on how you would get to the answers for the questions? (Link: http://media-publications.bcg.com/BCG-Online-Case-Example.pdf)

I did manual calculations and tried my best to approximate, but even so took over the required 8 minutes on this test.

Answer 1

Hi, there are several techniques you need to master:

Practice mental math in the following areas:
- Percentages
- Double digit multiplication
- Large numbers with a lot of zeroes
If you do not have a business background, work on your business sense by reading articles from MBB and business press, and also by trying to create MECE frameworks for problems discussed in these articles
Read the question first
Skim and underline important data before reading everything
Focus on the information necessary to answer the question, you don't need to understand every bit of data given - sometimes they add too much irrelevant data on purpose
Eliminate obviously wrong answers first
Always try to estimate (depends on the discrepancy in multiple choice answers)

Answer 2

Hi there,

That link doesn't work…

Regardless, this all comes down to practice. You need to get practicing and get a number of practice tests + questions under your belt in order to improve.

There are a number of techniques you can employ as well. That can include eliminating answers, plugging answers back into the original question, reading the question before the text, etc. etc.

Answer 3

Hello,

Practice makes perfect!

Beyond that, which components of the questions are giving you the most trouble exactly? Is it working with large/awkward numbers, reading a chart, understanding what the question is asking for, or something else? I would try to get clarity on what exactly it is that is taking you the most time, and try to focus on that particular aspect in your practice.