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Updated Mar 29, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 51 ratings

3.7

“Difficult” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 51 ratings

Positive	63%
Neutral	24%
Negative	14%

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4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in New York, NY (took 6 weeks)

The first part of the process was the submission of an online application through my university's on campus hiring program. About three weeks after this application was submitted, I was informed by email that I received a first round interview. This interview consisted of two back to back case interviews with associates. I made it to a second round in New York which was three case interviews with firm principals.

Interview Questions

What was your most difficult challenge during college?

View Answers (1)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Boston, MA (took a day)

I had a good deal of previous contact with the company, attended several events, read about them, prepared for the case interviews. I was invited for the first round interview and talked to two interviewers. They were nice, curious, interesting. The feedback for not making an offer was that my solutions for the problems were intuitive.

Interview Questions

I was asked to draw a framework on a strategy to fight Malaria in an Africa country.

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 (took 2 weeks)

Back to back first round interviews, 45 minutes each, which consisted of ~10 minutes personality with the rest being a very structured case which had only one expected path towards solution. The people were pretty laid back, but were under strict guidelines to look for the exact thought process.

Interview Questions

What was a time you had to bend the rules to succeed?

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Atlanta, GA (took a day)

Went through 2 one-on-one interviews with two partners, both were very pleasant. Afterwards there's a 2-hour written case study in which a ton of information, charts, and tables are presented in a booklet format, and I had to create a presentation presenting my recommendations based on the information in the booklet.

Interview Questions

Why BCG/consulting

Answer Question

what are your career goals

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Boston, MA (took 2 days)

First round is two mid-level consultants from any office. Each is about 15 minutes fit and 30 minutes case. Cases are real-life ones and pretty straightforward.

Second/final round is in the target office with three partners from that office. Each is about 45 minutes and more variable in content to the first round. Some give traditional cases, while other cases are a bit more creative in nature. The fit portion is more conversational.

Interview Questions

A case with slide after slide of ambiguous data.

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Washington, DC (took 1 week)

Resume screening resulting in about 100 candidates shortlisted for 1st round interview. Two interviews of 50 minutes duration each. First 10 minutes focus on fit, resume, background and experience type questions. "Tell me about a time when you had to defend your point of view when all others were against it". Case for about 30 minutes. Some math calculations.

Interview Questions

What five words would your friends and colleagues use to describe you?

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in New York, NY (took a day)

their hiring and interview process is quite smooth. interview invitation was given via email.
on the interview day, u will have places to hang ur coat/bag and the bios of interviewers will be given.

the interview consists of 2 parts: fit + case. questions i got (as far as i can remember) are:
1) What do you find most challenging
2) The client is a paper manufacturer. We focus on the paper towel division. Their revenue has been flat. u'r hired to help them grow their bottom line

Interview Questions

the interview consists of 2 parts: fit + case. questions i got (as far as i can remember) are:
1) What do you find most challenging
2) The client is a paper manufacturer. We focus on the paper towel division. Their revenue has been flat. u'r hired to help them grow their bottom line

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2009 in Atlanta, GA (took a day)

2 interviews back to back both 1:1. Gave a business case situation.
I thought i did everything right, had a good structure, was able to brainstorm and even drew a BCG matrix to answer a question. Yet did not get an offer. so they are hard to read.

The best way to prepare for the interview is to be good in structuring. so pick up any newspaper's business section and draw random structures for every situation. that way, u can be prepared for any kind of a case.

Interview Questions

A healthcare company trying to launch a new headache curing drug. should or shouldn't they invest when they already have a general painkiller in the market.

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

5.0

Very Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Nov 2008 (took 1 week)

All of the communications were highly professional. The interviews were typical of what one would expect, 2 behavioral/case interviews in the first round and 3 behavioral/case interviews in the third round. Preparation is a must to perform well, however having a positive attitude along with some luck always helps. The number of interviews is helpful in getting multiple opportunities to show one's skills; conversely each interview provides a further opportunity to fail. In order to obtain an offer, every interview must go reasonably well.

Interview Questions

The interviewee needs to know his/her resume backwards and forwards. Based on my resume, I was asked what my two favorite authors are, why that is so, and what I had read most recently by them. I did not expect the question to be so detailed.

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

No negotiations.

Other Details

I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Skills Test and a Personality Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Nov 2007 (took 3 weeks)

First round was two 45-minute interviews. Both interviews were 90% cases and the rest chitchat. Both cases were pretty quantitative. The interviewers were fairly junior (1-2 years tenure). I heard back 2-3 days later.

Final round was a 20-minute fit interview (why did you choose consulting, etc.) and two 45-minute case interviews. The fit interview was with a manager (~4 years tenure), and the cases were with very senior VPs. Again, both cases had a quantitative focus, though they were a little more free-flowing (no exhibits, for example, but a lot of estimation). I heard back about 3 days later.

Everyone at BCG was friendly; I left with a very positive impression of the people and the culture.

Interview Questions

The case was about working with a nonprofit client, and estimating how much one of their initiatives would cost. I made an estimating error at one point (lost a zero), but I quickly caught it and it didn't hurt me.

Answer Question