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Updated Feb 12, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 160 ratings

3.7

“Difficult” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 160 ratings

Positive	56%
Neutral	34%
Negative	9%

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4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took 3 weeks)

on campus resume drop resulted in a first round interview. First round involved two 45 minute case interview with consultants. Received second round invitation the next day by phone. Second round was in the office, involved 3 one hour-long interviews with a principal and two partners. Fit/resume question for first 15 minutes, case for the rest. Received offer the next day. Cases were very involved and based on interviewers' previous work. No stress interviews for undergraduates. The people I met were all brilliant, friendly, and excited about work, something I can't say for other firms.

Interview Questions

5 business case interview

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

did not attempt to negotiate, had best offer terms out of MBB

Other Details

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

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Inappropriate?

5.0

Very Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 in Boston, MA (took 1 week)

2 interviews first round (background and case)
3 interviews final round (background and case)

BCG has a very transparent interview process, they let you know exactly what you are going to be doing. That being said, they expect perfection - my interviews all went well (I would say my final round interviews were just as good as my first round interviews) but that wasn't enough to get the offer. Answer one question wrong or pause for 2 seconds on one part of one case, and you're sunk.

They are very professional and amicable, recruiting services were wonderful. Only thing that could have been better is if I got the job.

Interview Questions

Typical cases on revenue stream changes in a pharma company.

Answer Question

Other Details

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

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4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 in New York, NY (took 2 weeks)

1st round - Two 45-min interviews (10 min behavioral, 30 min case, 5 min Q&A)
Final Round - Three 45-min interviews (same format)

Practice practice practice cases - BCG cases are probably the toughest out of MBB. At the end of the day, a strong behavioral will help but it won't carry you to an offer. Interviews don't have to be perfect, but you have to be solid/strong on all 5 cases in order to get it.

Think out loud, structure everything, hypothesize then verify/negate with data, synthesize well, provide risks/next steps.

Interview Questions

What role do you take on a team?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.

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Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took a day)

Had 2 back to back 45 min interviews. Practice a lot of cases before interview.

Interview Questions

Should airport operator expand operations into other regions?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

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3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 in Boston, MA (took 5 days)

First interviewed on campus. Two one on one interviews with Consultants and Case Team Leaders. Started with a couple fit questions and then a case. These cases were pretty quant heavy. There were many exhibitions that required the candidate to to analyze graphs and PnL statements.

Was called back for decision round interviews that evening, which took place the next day in the Boston Office. Those interviews consisted of 3 one on one interviews with mostly parters. Two were case interviews and one was fit.

Interview Questions

How do you choose members of your team? What attributes do you look for?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

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Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Apr 2010 (took 3 weeks)

Phone interview with recruiter. Interviewed on campus with a number of other students. The interviewer were numb by the time I sat with them. They did not want to know anything about you just how you did on he case study. The case study has become a running joke, in that everyone practices for months so it is easy to do well. Just plug in the case variable because many are the same. Doesn't really matter what you did in school or your GPA if you ace the case. Another interview and offer came a few weeks later.

Interview Questions

Sizing a market question. Very typical and then the case

View Answers (1)

Reason for Declining

Took a job with software company in SF. Dynamic organization with good work life balance and people that seemed to care about what you did and who you were.

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Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took 2 weeks)

I received an interview through on campus recruiting. It was two back to back 45 minute case interviews. They were very polished, throwing a cocktail hour before the interviews for the several hundred students they were choosing to interview, and even had greeters the day of. My interviewers were cordial, but really pushed me. They would challenge everything I said - "Ok great. What else? Ok great. What else?" and keep pushing you until they were satisfied. Like other reviewers on here, I found the case to be VERY math driven. But I also found that the interviewers did a poor job of presenting the case in a way that the math that needed to be done became apparent. I bombed my second interview but did well in the first. I wasn't surprised at all when I didn't get an offer.

Interview Questions

Why BCG?

Answer Question

Other Details

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

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Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2010 in Boston, MA (took a day)

Standard 1st round. Went through two 30-minute interviews with different people. Each interview was structured similarly: interviewer looks through your resume and asks you questions about your past experiences, then you proceed to the case. I got a numbers/cost-benefit analysis case and a pricing strategy case. The interviewers were helpful and tried to point you in the right direction for solving the cases. However, feedback was nonexistent and you couldn't easily tell how you were being perceived.

Interview Questions

Cost-benefit analysis case. Very quantitative.

Answer Question

Pricing strategy case.

Answer Question

Other Details

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

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Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took a day)

In general, I'd found the BCG events I'd attended to be quite well organized and professional. This did not apply to my interview experience, however. To start things off, the interview scheduling was a giant mess and I walked in on interview day just praying that the final of the multiple times I'd been given was actually correct.

On interview day, I had an observer that was collecting feedback on my interviewer. That was fine, however, she typed during the whole interview. So I heard the clickety-clack of her keyboard throughout the entire thing. It seriously sounded like one of those old IBM keyboards. The professional way to approach this would be to have her take paper notes or just record instead.

One of the two interviewers was really good. The other seemed like he was not at all prepared to conduct an interview. It was like he was waiting for the questions to just come to him throughout the interview.

Interview Questions

Why Consulting

Answer Question

Other Details

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

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Inappropriate?

5.0

Very Difficult Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 (took a day)

I had my first round interview on campus with BCG. As someone with an advanced non-business degree, I knew I was going to be a somewhat unusual candidate. Accordingly, I spent months preparing for the case interviews and general fit questions.

My interview was the final one of the day. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that my interviewer had zero interest in being there at that point. He was extremely short and rude throughout the interview. The case he gave me was a straight numbers problem (which I didn't realize until part of the way through). It was surprisingly difficult, and I struggled both with keeping the numbers straight and dealing with the pressure of the interviewer's attitude.

The second interview went better. The guy was tired, but nice, and the case was somewhat more conventional. However, I knew by then that it was already a lost cause, so I just kind of struggled through it and got out of there.