I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Boston Consulting Group
Interview
I applied through an employee referral and was invited to interview within approximately 1 month of the initial referral. I had 3 rounds of interviews all in one day, with a decision at the end of each round on whether interviewees had done well enough to move to the next stage. It was a long and gruelling day and required a lot of stamina, although there were breaks during which I was able to go to go outside, get some fresh air and recharge.
Before the interviews started we had a one hour session with a number of current consultants introducing the firm, getting to know each other and giving candidates the opportunity to ask questions for about half an hour - it was a nice way to start the day and meant I felt fairly relaxed by the time I went into my first interview.
The first round involved 2 regular case interviews and then an 'online case' i.e. numeracy & chart reading test done on a computer. The second round consisted of 2 cases with principals and the final round was just one case interview with a senior partner. Each interview lasted 45-60mins.
Each interview followed the classic format, i.e. 10-15m discussion about fit, motivation, prior experiences and leadership credentials, followed by up to 45m discussing a business case.
The fit discussions were in line with my expectations, and no major curveballs although I was asked to discuss a time I had failed and what I learnt from it. I found this section of the interview very informal and enjoyed getting to know my interviewers during the discussion. The case interviews were less fomulaic than at the other top tier firm I received an offer from and quite intellectually stimiulating. I found the key was putting down a very clear structure at the beginning and using it as a reference throughout the interview to engage the interviewer in my thinking.
Most of the cases involved calculations, one involved some quite lengthy and laborious market size calculations for different market segements. What helped here was actually writing out my equation and variables and then running each calculation whilst filling in a table to keep things organized. My 3rd round did not require any calculations at all and felt more like a series of mini-cases about specific business topics, than a classic business case.
Other than that the support team did a great job throughout the process (I had to fly to a neighboring country for my interview), they put us up in a lovely hotel and informed me of the outcome pretty early on the next working day after the interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I had one deeply theoretical case about the automotive industry in which the solution required me to develop an equation from first principles to describe the economics of the product line the 'client' was operating in.
Muy estándar, en total 2 rondas con 2 entrevistas cada una. La primera ronda suele ser más fácil, pero la última con los partners sí te hacen mucho stress test y challenge.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Cuéntame sobre tu CV y una experiencia de conflicto que has tenido.
I applied online. I interviewed at Boston Consulting Group
Interview
Round 0: online aptitude test and problem-solving test; video cover letter
Round 1: online case followed by live case with a consultant
Round 2: 2 live cases back to back
I interviewed at Boston Consulting Group (Kuala Lumpur)
Interview
Got to second round with 4 different interviewees who were all generally quite laid back and easy to talk to. Case studies were quite challenging but interviewees will guide you through it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Classic fit questions e.g. tell me about yourself, intention and rationale to joining BCG