BCG Questions

Hi Archi,

thanks for your questions, I think you raised some interesting points on networking.

All in all, the questions you ask a consultant in a business environment pre interview should ideally respect the following:

1. You are genuinely curious about the topic
2. The question will help the consultant to remember you positively and provide a referral in the application process.

Given the previous points, I would suggest not to ask if there is a way for someone to know if consulting is not for him/her. If I were the interviewer, I would think you are not 100% sure about consulting, and that’s why you are asking. Although this may actually be the case, it may be better not to risk having the person that may refer you to think so, as it may decrease the chance for a referral. In short, this may not satisfy point 2 above.

I would also try not to ask questions that would put the topic of the discussion on “bad experiences”, such as to be scared to give the wrong suggestion to a client. While the question is interesting, this may bring the conversation on experiences unpleasant to remember; thus, I would rather ask this question to a friend you have in consulting or on the PrepLounge forum. In short, this may also not satisfy point 2 above.

Which are then the questions to you may ask that will satisfy point 2 and help you to be remembered positively? In general terms, the questions would have to respect the following:

• You should not find the answers on Google, as Guennael correctly pointed out,
• The questions should be related to personal experiences interesting for the consultant, ideally making him/her feeling important; this is the easiest way to have him/her to remember you positively.
• The questions should help you to understand better the core values of the company; this will help you to understand if that company is indeed a good fit for you.

Examples:

Average question: Satisfies A

I know you covered a lot Oil and Gas projects, which areas will BCG focus on in the next years?

--> This helps you to cover a point interesting for you, but probably not extremely interesting for the interviewer, since you are talking about the company, and not about a personal experience of the consultant.

Good question: Satisfies A and B

What do you think is the most important thing that helped you to have the career you had at BCG?

--> This allows the consultant to talk about positive personal experiences interesting for them

Very good question: Satisfies A, B and C

What is the thing you are most proud of that you did while at BCG?

--> This will not only allow the consultant to express a positive personal experience, but also to know what are his or her values. Remember that if you spend enough time in that company, you will absorb those values and you have to understand if that would be fine for you.

On your other points:

• I would bring a tie in the internal pocket of the jacket, just in case. In this way, if you find everyone is wearing one, you will not appear too informal
• It’s ok if you do not have business cards; the goal of the evening for you should be to have a consultant you meet to like you and to be willing to refer you, and while business cards may be useful they are not strictly necessary. In particular, as you may know, there is a specific list of steps to follow to receive a referral when you talk with a consultant, and ideally you should not ask for the referral directly. The steps would include (i) breaking the ice in the right way (ii) creating a connection with the interviewer and (iii) closing with an indirect request for referral. Please let me know if you have further questions on the topic.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

There are 2 types of BCG tests:

1. GMAT-like test with questions similar to GMAT
2. Online Test that is based on a case and has the questions closer to PST

I have uploaded both test samples here (Online test is about airlines). I've also added BCG written case sample (Next round) and Bain written case:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zor4m49eyx5qxal/AABeUN6mtiGkWhEklRjszX2Oa?dl=0

As for particular recommendations for online test:

1. Try to find as many people in your country as you can who have done the test. Ask them for the topic, industry, and questions they remember. For example in one of the countries there was a test about airlines and reading a couple of articles / company reports / wikipedia articles with industry terms could significantly improve performance
2. Try to practice tests with strict time-management. McKinsey PST from the official web site and all mck and bcg -like tests you can find online
3. Additional resources can be GMAT Integrated reasoning from the official guides and apps if you feel that you are not p[erforming well
4. As far as I remember calculator is allowed on BCG test. Make sure you know how to simplify calculations and use it fast

Best!

The reason why BCG potential test is so difficult is because of the time constraint.

So what I did was work on any questions from the BCG potential test I could find and try to solve them super quickly. For example, this question should be solved in 30 seconds

"One of the biggest global airlines has decided to buy new aircrafts. The ratio of first class, business and economy seats in the new aircrafts will be 1 to 3 to 8 and the total number of seats will be 240.

Average ticket prices for popular destinations are expected to be €700 for first class, €300 for business and €150 for economy. The average duration of these flights is 3 hours.

First and business customers get free Wi-Fi on board but economy customers need to pay €2 / hour to use Wi-Fi.

Assuming that only 5% of economy customers use Wi-Fi all the time, what are the expected revenues from a flight to a popular destination using a new aircraft at its full capacity?

1. €56,048
2. €56,016
3. €56,480
4. €56,160"

Good luck on the test!

For perspective, I worked 5.5 years at BCG in Germany and Japan, and did projects all over the globe. I have multiple friends at both McK and Bain. The following are my personal views, and your statement "from different online sources, I am getting different ideas" also holds in "real life" :)

Important:

(1) The differences between all three firms (and even other top managment consultancies) are negligible compared to non-consulting firms/jobs.

(2) All three firms have grown so much, they compete on all levels and no longer specialize in certain topics or industries. Basically, if one of the firms pitch for a certain project, the others could do it equally well.

On to the differences:

- In Europe, there is still a difference between McK/BCG and Bain, which is a bit smaller. So, while any competitive pitch where McK is invited also has BCG pitching (and vice versa), Bain is not always present.

- McK tends to have a more top-down, slightly harsher approach (maybe rooted from operations/cost cutting experience). BCG has a bit more cooperative approach, building support bottom-up together with the client's organization/middle management. Bain is somewhere in the middle.

- I found the smartest/most intelligent people to be at McK, intellectually a tiny notch above the other firms. BCG I found to be a bit more creative/out of the box.

Again, all of this is highly subjective. If you receive an offer from any of the firms, congratulations, that's amazing! :) If you end up getting more than one offer, I would choose the one which feels the best to you personally. I loved BCG, but one of my friends did not like the atmosphere and they somehow didn't connect -- he is now super successful and happy at Bain. During the interview process, you get to know 5-10 consultants over 2 rounds in a professional context. And keep in mind -- they don't just interview, but also try to make a good impression on you! The interview process is actually quite revealing about how working there would be, so going with your gut feel is probably the best way to go.

Good luck and all the best!

Good question. It's actually really hard to give general advice on. Again, a bit like going on a date - how can I make sure he/she likes me?

All social rules and norms apply -- what kind of candidate would you like if you were the interviewer? Seriously: Not being socially awkward is already a plus ;)

And you ask -- "How can I ensure that the interviewer is having fun (...)?" Easiest answer to this is, did you have fun? If yes, chances are high the interviewer had, too. In all of my best interviews I had a laugh together with the candidate.

Few concrete tips:

• Connect over something. In most firms, you get a short bio about the interviewer prior to the interviews. Read it, and remember just 1 thing you two have in common. (Same university? Playing tennis? Same home town? whatever it is) Bring it up at the right time. The interviewer will try doing the same.
• Listen. I hate to even write it here because you will have heard it so many times already, but an interview is such a high-stress situation, most people forget. If the candidate is not listening, there is zero engagement from my side as it's pointless. As an example, if your interviewer says something about your case structure or any feedback at all means she wants to help you. Tough luck if you don't notice. Answering the damn question is the same category. I ask "name 3 points about ...", and get 2 or 5 points back from the candidate. "Give me 1 sentence", I get a 2 min monologue back. Or 1 sentence and a long explanation. All the time :)
• Name the elephant in the room. Less obvious, but extremely powerful. You know your weaknesses, and chances are your interviewer will find out about them after 5 mins (if it takes that long). Addressing them directly and honestly is a power move and makes you super likeable. Example: I once had a candidate who seemed extremely shy, to the point where I was even unsure how to do a full interview with her. Pretty early on, I asked some question about her strengths, she said "attention to details, working under extreme stress, and being underestimated all the time because I seem so shy". Another time, I had a super arrogant guy who I immediately disliked (there are these people). Asking about something related to weaknesses, he mentioned that he is quite insecure, and while trying overcome it, people now see him as arrogant. As an interviewer I cannot dislike someone who just "confessed" and is committed to working on these issues (game over without the latter part). Another word of caution: Faking it will backfire ;)
• Ask questions. At the end of every interview, there is a chance to ask questions. I can't think of anyone we ever hired who had no questions. Ask questions that make the interviewer look good. Ask interesting questions to stand out. Examples I personally dislike: "How does this international exchange program work that your firm offers?" (frankly, I never really knew about all of these programs, they change constantly, so your question makes me look bad). Also, I didn't really like the work-life-balance questions I got all the time. Not because I think it's not an issue, but my opinion is that you should figure that out before you apply. Good questions I remember were "If you would be CEO of BCG, what would you do different?" and "If you weren't a consultant, what would you be doing if money was no issue"? But again, this is highly subjective; other interviewers may hate them. "What was your most exciting project" is overused, but a safe bet.

Hope this helps - good luck with your interviews!