Hi Archi,

As for your question on how referrals work: assuming you do not have any current direct contacts in the firms you are interested in, I usually suggest following a three-step approach:

1. Identify who are the people who could more easily help you

2. Write them a customized cold email

3. Have a call with the consultant, and indirectly ask for a referral

Each of the previous steps should be structured in a proper way to maximize the chances of moving to the next step. I have used this method when I applied for consulting, and I believe this is the main reason why I got six invitations out of six applications in consulting firms (McK, Bain, BCG, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Booz&Co - now Strategy&): I never only applied through the website, rather I always had a person referring me.

As for your question on how valuable networking is: as Chris mentioned, it’s a fundamental step in receiving an offer, often underestimated by candidates. It is indeed not useful to be well prepared for case interviews, if you do not end receiving a sufficient number of invitations to apply your knowledge. Networking should be therefore the first step to work on if you are interested in an offer in consulting; since not many people work on it, it’s also the one offering the highest returns out of your effort.

You would not need to either have the contact interviewing you, or having to take a coffee with the person in order for networking to be valuable (although the latter could be useful to strengthen the relationship); rather, your final goal should be to have the consultant to refer you to HR. As Chris mentioned, the higher is the consultant in the ranking, the higher are the chances the referral will work; on the other end, the higher is the consultant in the ranking, the lower is the expected response rate from your customized emails. You may want therefore to balance the two effects with middle-upper contacts (Project Leader/Principal at BCG, Engagement Manager/Associate Principal at McK), unless of course you directly know a partner or may have a strong connection with him/her.

If you are interested in knowing more about the three steps above, you can send me a private message and we can check if I could help you more with the process, according to the geographies you are interested in and your other target companies besides BCG.

Best,

Francesco

Great questions!

1. Yes, definitely. Some people just cannot stand uncertainty for example - but if you can pass the interviews, we basically know you have what it takes. Often though, you don't really know if the job will be a fit or not until you give it a shot - and the corollary, the consulting firm doesn't know if you will be a fit or not until you give it a shot

2. That's part of the job, yes. More often though, I think we are frustrated that the project limitations won't allow us to really help the client as much as we could, for whatever reason: they may not have the appetite to implement your recommendations, they may not have the financial capacity, not the right people... that happened to me once in particular, where I knew I could help (because I had done that exact same thing pre-BCG) but also understood clearly that the client would never implement the right strategy. Yes, I found this extremely frustrating! It is part of life though, not specific to consulting

There will be members of the consulting staff (associates, consultants and on up the chain including partners), as well as members of the recruiting team. Yes, there will probably be a lot for people, so plan to arrive early and stay late, since these are the best times to meet the staff.

Be open about your questions, they are normal and expected. "Bad" questions are the ones you'd find an answer to with a simple Google search, such as "where is BCG based", "do you have an office in this town" or "how big is BCG", but also something like "do you work a lot". ok, you knew that. good questions can be about work/life balance if you have a family, industry specific question, something that makes them think....

Ultimately, expect to have a good time, so don't stress out. yes they will 'interview' you, but you'll judge them as well so you guys are even. Above all, make sure to network and leave a (good) lasting impression.

Does that help? let me know!

Thanks,

Guennael

Ex-BCG Dallas

Archi,

Networking is MORE important in this community that many others. You could be the best and most brilliant mind, but if you don't have an advocate, you may be sunk.

Also, when you network, you'll want to target upper-level folks as they carry more weight than lower-level associates. Good luck, Chris

Thanks Francesco! Your comment brings me to another tangential question: how do referrals work? How valuable is networking unless you end up seeing the same person in your interview or you become close enough with them to actually get to have coffee/ lunch. In my understanding the chances of the former were limited, and the latter seems difficult, given how many hours you guys spend at work!

So, how does referal really work? Is networking as important as it would be for any other field? Or is it particularly important to make for specific career transition?

I really appreciate an answer. Please let me know if you may have answered this elsewhere and I am happy to dig deeper into the archives. Thanks so much!

Hi!

To add on top of previous comments, it´s not evaluative, so use it as true exploration time and forum to your questions.

Cheers,

Clara

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(edited)

Thanks so much! Yes, I was not going to ask "I do not know what you do/ please coach on me" questions. Your advice is really very useful. Two question that I do feel like asking:

1. Everyone makes it sound like if you have brains and a few learned skills, you could probably be a consultant. Do you ever see a person and know that they should not be a consultant? (I have a PhD and I know when a person should not get themselves into a PhD program). Or is there a way someone might know that this is not for them?

2. Are you ever scared that your advise might be wrong for a client? I know you get paid to not be wrong. But does it ever bother you?

Perhaps I should create a seperate post for these questions! But other than that I was planning to not wear a tie because whenever I have seen someone from this office, they have not worn one. I do not have the time to get business cards at this last minute, so I would not worry about it any more. I have met some of their consultants at a campus event, and hope to run into some of them again for recall value. Any other tips would be very welcome. Thanks so much!