All questions tagged bcg london - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hey,

1. Ideally yes, if they plan well you should be staffed on roles suited to your skills. But this could change due to shift in client requirements, budget changes & other priorities etc. Be prepared to be staffed on other projects. Dont be fussed and show lot of flexibility to learn. Keep visibility high with senior people, network well, do a good job and the cool roles will come your way eventually
2. Best check with your future team members. This will depend on the project, client/industry and most importantly whats happening with COVID. UK is under pretty strict restrictions at the moment. Full on travel to clients is not going to happen any time soon. If situation improves in next few months do expect some travel in line with health and safety within UK, to Europe or where the projects take you
3. I hope you have done your homework on making the decision to quit :). This by no means should be an indicator of your future performance. Consulting will be tough but rewarding, provided you have the right mindset. If you show strong likes & dislikes for projects early on, there is chance you could feel bored again..haha. Sounds like you are in your very early career days, so embrace the challenge, give yourself enough time to settle and grow from there. If you slack , am afraid your days will be numbered

All the best!

Hey there,

Let me challenge your thinking and approach here..sounds like you are doing well at Accenture and on track to get promoted in March. So why the need to change now and not next summer/later in 2021 when things are more settled and clearer? You must have very good reasons and story to justify this (for yourself), specially in the current climate of risk and uncertainty.

London is hypercompetive and it certainly wont be easy at this stage with COVID situation and Brexit around the corner. Dubai equally so but slightly less crazy than London.

But if you have made up your mind, please think about the following aspects:

• How will you be placed visa/immigration wise for the two locations
• What factors will tip one city over other: industry preference, geograhic preference, culture/people, weather (Yes!)
• Internal transfers are possible but will take sometime to happen- 2 yrs at least from start date
• Salary: Dubai much much better than London
• What's your backup plan/exit if things dont go as planned

Have a look at these threads too:

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/moving-from-mbb-london-to-dubaisingapore-8400
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/london-big-4-or-dubai-mbb-5642

Hello!

One step at a time, I would focus on CV and CL first, to ensure you pass the "first cut". Send over if you want.

Cheers,

Clara

Hello!

Given that the deadline was only hours ago and we are in the weekend, it´s quite pramature to worry :)

Allow them for a week or so, and if you odn´t hear anything, follow up.

At the end, this is a pipeline and not all candidates move through it at the same speed, so it does not have to mean something bad.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi Anonymous,

BCG process:

• First round: Two interviews, standard fit+case
• Second round: Two interviews with more senior folks, fit+case but slightly less predictable

Evaluation criteria (for cases):

• Case structure: MECE? Deep enough? (at least 2, but ideally 3-4 levels)
• Drill down: Systematic? Use of microstructures? Transitions between branches good? Driving the case or following the interviewer?
• Maths: Accurate? Identified ways to simplify?
• Creativity: Popcorn thoughts or structured brainstorming? How far can the candidate be stretched? (give me 3 more ideas, give me 2 more ideas etc.)
• Wrap-up: Ability to concisely summarize the recommendation, 'executive' presence etc.

Happy to chat more - let me know!

-Eugene

Hi Anonymous,

I like your thinking process to look at your longer-term goals well in advance of joining MBB and not loosing the big picture on your career - it's definitely something most candidates should do as well! (it's in any case good to have a plan - doesn't matter that much if it changes along the way)

As London being a financial powerhub in Europe (at least for the time being, let's see how that will develop in the next decade) I can see a higher percentage of people ending up in the financial industry - but that's obviously also depending on your area of expertise in MBB.

The majority of candidates transfer to management roles in the industry - which is quite logical, given that at project manager level you are usually the main face to the customer and having a strong background in industry and function ... and since your clients know you already and it can get only cheaper compared to your daily MBB rate, you are the perfect hire for their problem.

Apart from that, some folks start their own ventures or go to VC/PE - although not a very likely occurrence (not having specific data on that - just my observation).

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Hi,

From what I've heard from my friends:

1. Longer since London office is pretty intense

2. -

3. Think of the UK industries - PE, Financial Services, Retail

4. Depending on the role. There are many projects locally. However, the more senior you are - the. more you have to travel abroad.

Best

One thing to add: TA practice has both a "directorship"/"expert" path but also a regular "partner" path. Therefore I would consider it very similar in that aspect to other industry/functional practices in BCG.

In terms of type of work/cases - transformation and cost rationalization are the lionshare

In terms of culture, specifically for TA, there is a slight difference with the industry practices in the fact that is more global rather than office specific (e.g. a lot of industry practices have informal nodes in specific offices due to the concentration of clients in the same industry near said office). What that means is that you might need to extend your networking outside of London office and take every opportunity to do so (practice events and so on).

Hope it helps,

Andrea

They replied to me two weeks ago, even though it was about saying that my application wasn't proceeded to the next stage. Good luck to the rest of you!

Hi Akash,

A similar question has been already addressed in this thread:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/whats-the-best-time-of-the-year-to-apply-for-an-mbb-entry-level-position-908#a1781

The same rule applies to offices based in London.

Feel free to reach me if you have any additional question,

Cheers,
Jacopo