Hi Rob,
usual topics for BCG are leadership, flexibility, teamwork and tenacity. In practice, questions will be mostly the same.
The usual differentiator between other firms is: “Why BCG?”. Many people provide a generic answer to this question (top company, good culture based on the people I talked to, etc) that doesn’t really stand out as unique for BCG. My suggestion would be to be very specific in you answer, and in particular provide details that would be unique for the company when presenting a point. The reason why the ask this question, indeed, is not simply because they want to hear that BCG is the best company for the candidate – they know you have likely applied for McKinsey and Bain and may even prefer one of the other MBB. Rather, they want to know if you are able to do due diligence on a company/client, before approaching them. Thus, you should show you have done such due diligence. For example:
- If you mention the fact that BCG is a recognized leader, mention also the growth rate of the company/increase in the number of offices worldwide in the last years
- If you mention people and culture, explain the specific things these people mentioned about the culture (eg specific example of training programs/opportunities)
- If you mention learning opportunities, refer to the actual programs in place that could allow for your personal growth (when I was at BCG, was common to apply for example to the “Ambassador programme”, allowing to move to another office for one year and then come back).
The rule of thumb is: could you substitute in your answer the name “BCG” with “McKinsey” or “Bain” and have an answer that still makes sense? If so, you probably want to customize it more as it would not be unique for BCG.
Best,
Francesco
Thank you Francesco! Great inside information! :-)