typical consulting case interview - worth notice that industry experience is irrelevant (at least for Project lead and below positions). 2 rounds, first round 2 principals and second round 2 partners
I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Boston Consulting Group (Tokio) in Aug 2014
Interview
A series of case interview (4) followed by 2 interviews with Partners; in my case due to mid-career hire for a specific practice area.
Case interviews have the following structure:
- 10mn to talk about you and why you want to join
- 40mn case interview (5mn introduction, 5-10mn to prepare, the rest to solve the case)
- 10mn to ask questions to the interviewer about BCG
Interviews with partners were not case interviews but were aimed at evaluating industry knowledge and personality.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Case interviews changes regularly. Samples can be found on BCG website.
I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Boston Consulting Group (Bruselas) in Sep 2016
Interview
Round 0: telephone interview. General questions: why BCG, why management consulting etc.
After that, the case interviews start. I read most of the preparation available across the internet, but all my cases were impossible to prepare for. You will have to be creative to find a useful framework once the problem is presented to you.
Round 1:
A) computer test. Case-like number questions with multiple choice answers (+- 1h)
B) Case interview + general questions with a project leader (+-1h)
Got feedback the next day. Useful stuff to improve for your next round. You are also assigned a "buddy": someone at BCG you can ask any question you'd like but who does not interfere at all with your application procedure. Great system.
Round 2:
A) In basket case with a principal: around 30-40 pages with text, quotes, graphs, numbers etc. to solve 3 case-like questions. You get 2 hours to prepare some slides to answer these questions. This is followed by a 1h interview where you have to explain your reasoning. Also, the same general questions.
B) Case interview + general questions with a principal (+- 1h)
This is where your stamina is tested because it's right after the in basket case
Got feedback after 2 days. Again useful stuff to improve for your last round.
Round 3:
A) Case interview + general questions with a project leader (+- 1h)
B) Case interview + general questions with a sr. partner (+-45 mins)
Got feedback the next day. Did not get an offer but they didn't really explain where I dropped the ball. Sr. partner was 20 minutes late, disinterested from the start and kept using his phone during the interview. Left me with a sour feeling after a generally very positive experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you want to work for BCG?
Why do you want to get into management consulting?
Why should we hire you?
Are you applying anywhere else?
What have you learned at your current job?