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Oh man,

If you already want to leave the firm it probably is not the best next step for your career. I can assure you the hours are LONG and the lifestyle is downright miserable if you want time for yourself.

In terms of minimum time spent - 1.5-2 yrs if you are joining as a BA or 2-3 yrs if you are joining as an Associate will be the time at which you will reap the rewards of the brand name.

Best,

Udayan

Hi,

The process that you mentioned is correct, however, it varies from office to office. Some will not make you do any test and in some there will be only two rounds with a total of 4 interviews. The best way to figure that out would be to get in contact with HR of that office and clairify.

Cheers!

While no one can predict the final outcome, there is more emphasis placed on person to person interactions over AI interactions for sure. Since there is not much you can do right now, it is much better to forget about it (maybe even treat it as a rejection) so you can focus on all the remaining interviews you have.

All the best,

Udayan

While I do not know your personal circumstances, from a purely objective lens MBB is way more valuable than EY. There is a reason people want to get into MBB vs Tier 2 and as you probably know, the exit opportunities are much better with MBB.

In terms of career growth, from what I know it is a lot more defined at MBB - the routes are clear and there are set goals to achieve to get there. Once you get to AP of course making partner is more about networking etc. However in EY I have seen this is not always the case and a lot more politics is involved.

All the best,

Udayan

Hi,

international management and industrial engineering are the 2 most frequent background for MBB consultants. However, in recent years, lots of different degrees are being considered interesting from top-tiers, e.g. finance, computer science, maths, physics.

My advice is to follow your passion to better perform and enjoy these years, but at the same time develop business culture through books, papers, and articles, and approach the consulting business cases. The must-have on your CV should be:

1. International experiences: internships in multinationals, exchange programs and/or summer schools in top Universities.

2. Strong academic performances.

With these points, you will be invited by MBB (a plus - not needed - can be an entrepreneurial experience).

Best,

Antonello

First, good luck!

Second, think of it as a merge of a case and the GMAT/GRE.

You need to be clear on some key case-related and account formulas (margin, growth, breakeven, etc) as well as be good at critically understanding the question (including nuance to questions) and parsing through complicated text with a fair amount of distraction.

You'll also need to be good at chart/graph reading.

The (old) McKinsey PST, BCG Online Test, Bain SOVA test, etc. are all quite similar so leverage resources across all of them.

https://www.myconsultingoffer.org/case-study-interview-prep/bcg-online/

https://www.shl.com/shldirect/en/practice-tests

https://www.psychometricinstitute.co.uk/Free-Aptitude-Tests.asp

Don't reach out to the recruitier for something like this just yet It won't leave a good impression.

When others have heard back and you haven't heard anything, it might be a good idea to send a thank you note to the recruiter for their kind consideration, and they'll quickly rectify it if they forgot to hit send on your email. Most likely, that is not the case. Unfortunately, we've all been there.

Hi A,

No, all the companies are still hiring, but their intake is very much reduced.

Best,
André

Hi there,

This is the key information you should know on the test.

The BCG Online Case - also called Potential Test in some offices - is a multiple choice computer test with 23 questions to be answered in 45 minutes.

It has one single case only. You receive +3 for each right answer, 0 for no answer and -1 for a wrong answer.

Calculators are generally not allowed, but there are exceptions in some countries - you can clarify that with HR if needed.

I recommend the following approach to prepare:

1. Look online for reliable BCG test simulations. You can find an example here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/bcg-potential-test-1-13
2. If possible, don’t print the sample tests; rather, do the simulations on your computer. The day of the test you won’t be able write notes near the questions or turn pages. If you practice on a paper version, you will find different dynamics the day of the interview that could impact your performance. You should also do all the simulations with a time constraint
3. After each test write down the mistakes you did. You will probably find that the mistakes have something in common – eg wrong math, too much time wasted on some questions, wrong interpretation of graph
4. Work on each area of improvement. Many candidates do these simulations checking only the final score and don’t spend time analyzing the mistakes - thus they don’t improve
5. Once you have done all the BCG test simulations, move to PST practice. You can find a good number of PST tests online. The PST is different from the Potential Test – in the PST there are multiple cases, the types of questions are different and you have more time available. However, it may still help to improve your performance

As additional notes:

• Remember you are penalized for wrong answers - you should adapt your strategy accordingly
• Aim to identify the main areas of improvements already with the first test - the typical ones are math, graph interpretation and ability to absorb information quickly
• Try to distribute the tests between the day you start practicing and the day of the test for constant learning – avoid to do them just at the end

If you want to practice on a real example of a BCG Potential Test, you can find the one I created below. It is not free, but as they say – you get what you pay for ;)

https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/bcg-potential-testonline-case-1-13

With this test you will be able to:

• Prepare on the exact same format of the BCG Online Case – 23 questions in 45 minutes
• Identify your possible improvements thanks to detailed solutions for all the 23 questions
• Practice on material tested by multiple candidates who did the test and successfully passed the Potential Test.

If you need additional support or have any feedback on the test feel free to PM me, I can provide additional tips for free.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

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

Hi!

there are no "typical" fit questions at BCG Germany. It is up to each interviewer to shape this part to their liking / whatever worked best previously.​

In general it always helps to stay genuine (e.g., better think about it for a second; even admitting you don't know the answer is fine - definitely better than making things, which a good interviewer will always find yout).

Hope that helps a bit!

Hi there,

Some BCG offices started sending interview invitations, I am coaching a few individuals who are having a first round on the first week of October. This concerns some European, Middle Eastern and African offices.

I hope this helps!

Mehdi

Anything that ends in 0 - if you are multiplying by it automatically add 0 and multiply by what comes before it

So for 360*5 - make it 50X36

Then I like doing two separate additions to solve it so

50*36 = 50*30 + 50*6

You can always group 0s together so 50*30 = (5*3)*100 = 1500

and 50*6 = (5*6)*10 = 300

so 50*36 = 1500+30 = 1800

Hope this helps,

Udayan

Hi Anonymous,

your certainly need to meet a certain threshold regarding cognitive smartness ("IQ"). However, you do not need to be Albert Einstein for sure! If you meet that required IQ floor level, it is much more important that you

• are able to navigate social/political client settings,
• build trust quickly,
• have the work ethic to put in the hours, which can be brutal at times.

This is why you need a well-rounded profile as a consultant - if it was only about cognitive smartness, the firms could just go and offer huge salary packages to the best graduates from the most difficult programmes at universities around the globe.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi A,

The questions you are thinking of are actually general ones and can be asked by someone who is not familiar with the company's values, culture, etc. and just had a quick look at the website.

As a potential employee you should focus on developing unique questions that would differentiate you from other candidates.

Something like "Could you please tell me about the most challenging case you've had thus far in your career?" or "How did your perspective on the company change comparing the days before you joined and current times?"

Asking the interviewer questions about his consulting experience or related to his personal decision making might be one of the best options.

Best,

André

Ah, unfortunately you've already gone a bit too far :/ Two followups is ok...3 is too much!

May I ask how far apart these followups were? Ideally you gave it a number of weeks before following up?

All this said, it's likely you didn't "do anything wrong" and that he simply became too busy to respond. That being said, this is really probably the end of this trail.

What you should do is:

1) Continue networking and searching for other referrals

2) Try to speak to the office that he recommended (did he suggest other offices)

3) Reflect on this call and next time also try to get put in touch with someone (I call this "Playing tag", whereby you look for something you spoke about such as another office, industry, background,etc. and ask if they know anyone who you could speak further to about that)

Ciao!

Il test in uso uttualmente è un'insieme di quesiti di logica numerica e ragionamento verbale, sullo stampo di SHL.
Sentiti libero/a di contattarmi se vuoi approfondire come poter preparare il test e ricevere supporto.

Spero sia utile,
Luca

Hi there,

The norm is 1-2 business days later, but it can go up to 1 week. If you do not hear from them by then, grab your phone and get in touch with HR.

All the best,

Mehdi