Glassdoor is your free inside look at Boston Consulting Group interview questions and advice. All 326 interview reviews posted anonymously by Boston Consulting Group employees and interview candidates.
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
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
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
No Offer – Interviewed in Houston, TX Mar 2012 – Reviewed Aug 9, 2012
Interview Details – Applied via corporate employment web portal. The web portal was not user friendly and it took an inordinate amount of time to complete the application. I was eventually sent an email that they would like to do a phone interview. The rescheduled the interview several times. The interviewer was in another city and had no specific knowledge of the position or people I would work with. The interviewer promised follow through and I never heard back. I was not overly disappointed as a had a very negative impression of the company at that point.
Interview Question – The asked about specific types of marketing analysis that I had never heard of. I have researched these and found little or no information. They must by BCG specific. So, without working there before.... View Answer
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
No Offer – Interviewed in Chicago, IL Jan 2011 – Reviewed Jul 22, 2012
Interview Details – On-campus MBA intern interview process. I went through the standard MBA on-campus recruiting process. Over several months, I attended presentations, dinners, special events for high-potential women etc. I then submitted my CV and cover letter along with my office preferences online. A few days later BCG invited me for an interview on the "closed" list. The interview was 2 back to back one on one interviews that were 95% case based. The other 5% was basically a quick CV review.
Interview Question – I don't understand why you want this job. It doesn't make sense with your CV. Answer Question
No Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY May 2011 – Reviewed Jul 4, 2012
Interview Details – Got an interview call through a partner at the firm.
Interview Questions
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
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA Jun 2008 – Reviewed Jun 14, 2012
Interview Details – Met with several people. The questions were creative scenario questions (What would you do in this fictional scenario?), and "what type of person are you" questions. I dont recall anything specific about the job being asked.
Interview Question – Do you enjoy the hypothesis, theory, or research phase more? Answer Question
Negotiation Details – No Negotiations
No Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA Nov 2011 – Reviewed May 31, 2012
Interview Details – I attended an info session and then submitted my cover letter and resume. The first round interview consisted of 1 on 1 interviews with 3 different people. They all gave me hypothetical scenarios and asked me to provide a solution. I was allowed to ask them questions as well.
Interview Question – A coal mining company with majority market share in Canada is witnessing declining profits. Find out what's wrong. View Answer
More Boston Consulting Group Ratings & Reviews ()
Would you like us to review something? Please describe the problem with this {0} and we will look into it.
We're sorry but your feedback didn't make it to the team. Your input is valuable to us – would you mind trying again?
The difficulty rating is the average interview difficulty rating across all interview candidates.
The interview experience is the percentage of all interview candidates that said their interview experience was positive, neutral, or negative.
Your response will be removed from the review – this cannot be undone.
Copyright © 2008–2013, Glassdoor. All Rights Reserved. Your use of this service is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy & Cookies Policy. Glassdoor ® is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc.
Simply post an anonymous review for a recent interview experience or current/former employer. Your post is anonymous – and if you're worried someone will be able to identify your review, you can even post without telling us your job title and location. Learn More.
No thanks – I'll just look around