Structuring BCG/Bain behavioural questions like the PEI

Hello A,

This is a bit subjective, and there is not a specific rule that someone can go by, but in my experience, talking for 4 min straight without interacting with your interviewer, is a bit too much.

Generally, it is better if you keep your answers/stories shorter, 2,5-3 min maximum, and then let your interviewer make follow-up questions. Interacting with them and keeping them engaged is super important.

Having said that, in my opinion, what would help you a lot, is to ask one of your friends to listen to your stories, and then ask for feedback. Did they understand the whole story? Was it interesting? Was there any point at which they felt that they lost interest/were bored?

At the end of the day, the fit part of the interview is your time to shine, show off your skills and your amazing character, and bond with the interviewer. Based on that, I would suggest focusing more on presenting interesting stories, rather than keeping time and giving out every possible detail. 

Good luck!

Hi there,

For Bain specifically, you will have ~40mins for 8 questions, but frequently the interviewer would want to ask follow up questions after your answer.

Based on the above, from the time management perspective I would suggest to keep your answers to no more than 3 minutes otherwise you will run out of time.

Good luck with your interviews,

Lilit

Hi there,

It depends.

How is your interviewer reacting?

Are they fidgeting? Looking away? Appear distracted/bored? You're talking for too long and not getting to the point? If that's not that case, carry on!

This is all different based on the interviewer. You need to treat this like you would any conversation/interaction with anyone!

Ultimately, you want to answer the question in a calorie-dense way. I.e. As concise, direct, clear, etc. as possible.

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• It is/ was generally true that fit answers at BCG and Bain tend to be shorter than at McKinsey, but it's not a hard and fast rule. The key is to be concise and to the point, while still providing enough detail to showcase your relevant skills and experiences, no matter the exact duration of the answer.
• It is worth noting that Bain now has a dedicated personal fit interview, and as such you will encounter more behavioral personal fit questions, similar to McKinsey. However, BCG still keeps the personal fit part included within the case interview and as such mostly focuses on general personal fit questions where structuring is less required.

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

Hi there, 

Overall, yes, it's fine. 

You could consider dropping completely some segments of the answer as a last resort choice. For instance, your reflection on the learnings from that particular situation. You could also alternatively give even less context and try to introduce that in a shorter way as part of the body of the story.

Best,

Cristian

it will depend on the interviewer - meaning you could go with 4 min but it could also penalize you - I would suggest to concise the stories to get them shorter, but not changing the whole structure. 

Good luck!

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Hi there,

What you want to do is organize the content so you can communicate it top down. In practice, this means that you can tell the story in 20 seconds, 2 minutes, or 20 minutes. My guidance would be 2 minutes, if uninterrupted (but prepare to be interrupted because this is a conversation, not a monologue). This approach requires organizing everything in ‘buckets’ (sub stories) that you can label and mention and leave it to the interviewer to double click. 

For example: “I faced some interpersonal problems with my team mate but was able to resolve this through a couple of 1:1, which allowed to move on pursuing our common goal.”

The above takes 5 seconds to mention and you should leave it to the interviewer to double click and enter into this little sub story. If he/she doesn't react, move on. If they do, enter into an appropriate amount of detail, which requires good judgement on your part.

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

Moritz

Yes, that should be fine.