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Boston Consulting Group Associate Interview Questions & Reviews
Getting the Interview 72 Interviews
Interview Experience 69 Ratings
Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Reviewed Feb 23, 2013
Interview Details – Standard process: 2 interviews in first round, 3 in final round, mix of case and behavioral
Helpful Interview?
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
No Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA Oct 2012 – Reviewed Feb 4, 2013
Interview Details – Passed the 1st round in the Boston office and was invited for the final round one week later. Final round had 3 cases. Performed average in the first two and bad in the last one. The 1st was about a pharma which wants to enter a developing country. The 2nd about a bank and the 3rd about mining in South Africa. The last one had a lot of info in 1 slide and I got confused. Overall, the interviewers were friendly but if you follow a tangent they do not bring you back.
Interview Question – Describe me your worst boss Answer Question
Helpful Interview?
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
No Offer – Interviewed in Philadelphia, PA Oct 2011 – Reviewed Nov 25, 2012
Interview Details – I was invited for the first round interview for the Southeast Asian offices and BCG basically paid for the trip and accommodation. to Philadelphia. The interviews were rather hectic since BCG was trying to finish their first round interviews for the international offices in a week. My interviewers were extremely tired from the daily interviews and jet lag. One of them was even dozing off during the interview!
Interview Question – The cases were rather standard. just be confident in what you have to say! Answer Question
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY Oct 2011 – Reviewed Nov 11, 2012
Interview Details – 3 Interviews
Interview Question – Presented Interviewees with graphs that we needed to analyze in a split second. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – They were amazingly flexible and open--I was incredibly impressed.
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA – Reviewed Aug 21, 2012
Interview Details – Resume drop then on campus interview - 2 cases (one on pharma and the other one I forgot). Call the next day about second rounds in office location. They paid for convenient flight and a SUPER nice hotel and were very accommodating for my schedule. 3 cases for final round (one on energy, one on the auto industry, and one on travel/tourism). I heard back the following Monday (I interviewed on Friday)
Interview Question – Client is a pharma company looking to enter the rare disease business and want to grow x percent (can't remember) in 5 years. Will they meet their targets? Answer Question
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
No Offer – Interviewed in Washington, DC – Reviewed Aug 15, 2012
Interview Details –
People:
BCG has very bright people, and they are not full of themselves. They are not cocky - that said, they are very cerebral (some call it academic). They are down to earth but still have a high sense of: "I really need to work super hard and get this done because so much is riding on it." But that's the nature of the business.
Office:
DC Office was like a library. Very quiet. The analysts were boxed into a room with glass walls - they seemed like animals caged for the day. It was Friday, so most people were in jeans and a button-down. Still classy. People not too inclined to look up when I passed ... they were far too busy drooling, fixated on their computer screens.
Interview:
I had two case interviews. Each one was from an industry that was part of my background. For example, let's say that I worked in a managerial role for a grocery store. Then the case would have focused on how to grow revenues at a grocery store. I hear that they ask this kind of case to make sure you didn't exaggerate your resume.
Interview Question –
Questions were not bad at all. BUT one interviewer (who had an academic background, PhD, no MBA) jumbled a question. He wanted to know what other types of products a manufacturing company could produce. The answer was to add a brand new business line (doing service, not producing a product).
So make sure that you think through: "What is the interviewer REALLY looking for?"
Answer Question
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Atlanta, GA Jan 2008 – Reviewed Aug 21, 2012
Interview Details – Case interviews with limited focus on behavioral fit until the very end
Interview Question – Typical business case questions (profit maximization, cost minimization, etc.) View Answer
Negotiation Details – None
Helpful Interview?
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Problem with this interview?
Associate at Boston Consulting Group
No Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY Jul 2012 – Reviewed Aug 9, 2012
Interview Details –
Two rounds - first round included 2 interviews, both had 15 minutes of a fit interview and 30 minutes of a case interview. The cases themselves were straightforward. The interviewers at BCG are very friendly.
I didn't make it to round 2, unfortunately. I was told that I needed to be more creative with the use of frameworks. Didn't seem like a hard interview, but I guess they were expecting more in terms of how I approached the case.
Interview Question – Example of a time you had to lead a team with members who all wanted to go in different ways. Answer Question
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Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA Jan 2011 – Reviewed Jun 20, 2012
Interview Details – Very nice some case interviews, use Case In Point
Interview Question – Market sizing: how many people would use a drug that prevents baldness? Answer Question
Negotiation Details – No typically the same salary
Helpful Interview?
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Problem with this interview?
Associate at Boston Consulting Group
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY Oct 2011 – Reviewed May 7, 2012
Interview Details –
I was contacted for an on campus interview with BCG through my school's standard career services system.
The first round interview was on campus and was comprised of 2 case interviews. Each case was done in a separate room with a Consultant (post-MBA) from the firm. Most of my interviewers had been at the firm for about a year. I was contacted about a final round interview within 48 hours of my first interview. At this point they would discuss what potential offices you might want to work in, and eventually decide which office you'd prefer to interview for.
The final round was in the specific office I wanted to work in, in this case New York. The final round is comprised of 3 case interviews with Principals or Partners. I received my offer the same evening.
Interview Question – Why consulting and why BCG? Answer Question
Negotiation Details – N/A
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