BCG London


	FAQs

BCG

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

LIFESTYLE ISSUES

APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

BCG

Who is BCG?

We are a leading global management consulting firm operating since 1963. We have over 3,000 consulting professionals working in over 60 offices worldwide. We focus on strategy:

· Advising senior management at the world’s largest companies

· Deriving most of our business from continuing client relationships

We collaborate with our clients to address core issues of direction and performance e.g.

· Strategic insight

· Operational effectiveness

· Superior implementation

And thereby create sustainable competitive advantage for our clients.

What is BCG’s work mix? Do you do just strategy? How much Operations?

BCG’s heritage, and the core of today’s work, lies in setting strategic direction. We help set the CEO’s long-term agenda, often implementing our recommendations in collaboration with client teams. As the founders of the discipline and art of corporate strategy, BCG is made up of people who have a deep understanding of what drives competitive advantage.

The business issues we deal with in all industries - are usually fundamental, strategic and already moving to higher priority on the CEO's agenda. These challenges are fraught with ambiguity and uncertainty; our people relish the opportunity to uncover real insight beyond the obvious answers.

What is the “ideal” profile for a BCG consultant?

There isn't one; there are many. The real world demands more than a single discipline or one point of view. The complexity of the issues treated in management consulting not only accommodates but demands great diversity of experience, perspective, thinking style, and expertise.

What if I have a law degree, an engineering degree or a Ph.D and I don’t have a business degree? Would I be “lost” at BCG? How would I get the basic knowledge I need?

You will receive plenty of help and advice. Take a look at the profiles section on this site and visit “Where you fit” on http://www.bcg.com for more information about how non-business degree-holders enter BCG.

See “What you’ll learn” to find more information about the training we offer. BCG also makes an effort to share its collective knowledge through the BCG Knowledge Management (KM) system, which provides a single source of information about BCG people, topics, experience, know-how, and more. It is available to every consultant in every BCG office. The access rules to KM ensure that clients’ information is never compromised.

Should I even consider consulting if I would like to start or run a business some day?

Few people begin consulting knowing they will retire in consulting. In fact, many people come in with a desire to try it, and if it “clicks,” they stay on. Fortunately for BCG, it does click for many. Take a look at “Beyond BCG" on http://www.bcg.com to learn where our alumni go, what they do, and what they gained from the BCG experience.

How is BCG different from the other consulting firms?

We believe BCG stands apart on a number of dimensions.

BCG has an unparalleled record of innovation (examples of which include portfolio analysis, experience curves, segmentation, time-based competition and deconstruction).

BCG delivers impact through insight, consistently going beyond the art-of-the possible to drive deeper change and competitive advantage.

The BCG experience develops intellectual leadership skills, not just people leadership skills (one of the reasons why so many of our alumni are so successful in starting new businesses!)

I am doing research and need information on a specific topic, can you help me?

Unfortunately, many of BCG’s documents are not appropriate for the public domain. However, many articles are available on the bcg.com website and most books written by BCG consultants can be ordered directly from the publisher. Please visit the appropriate sections of the bcg.com site for more information:

Publications search
Drop down search page offering searches via Industry, topic, type, language http://www.bcg.com/publications/publications_splash.jsp

New Ideas
Rather than straight to just a drop down search page this takes you to a quick overview of all latest reports, books and OFA's from which you can link to summaries and pdf's etc.
http://www.bcg.com/new_ideas/new_ideas_splash.jsp

Expertise
Gateway to list of all different expertise from which you can click on for further information.
http://www.bcg.com/practice/our_practice_splash.jsp

BCG in the news
Latest BCG news, summarises the news then takes you to the article.
http://www.bcg.com/this_is_bcg/news/news2.jsp

Subscribe
Fill form in for info on latest BCG publications, media releases.
http://www.bcg.com/eSubscribe/eSubscribe_create_account.jsp

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

How much training will I get? What type of training will I get?

Training in many forms abounds at BCG. From formal classroom training, to on-the-job skills development, to e-learning, BCGers have access to the training they need for specific projects and to a culture of learning that allows them to progress rapidly in their careers.

Read more about this topic in “What you’ll learn” on www.bcg.com and also refer to the Training section on this site.

When and how will I be evaluated?

Evaluation at BCG is taken very seriously. One of the most important components of professional development is learning from previous experiences. There is a concerted effort to offer continuous informal feedback as well as more formal feedback at the end of each project. All individuals will be evaluated along a number of dimensions that are important to their development: analytics, presentation style, conceptual ability, interpersonal skills, motivation, initiative, organisation, communication skills, team skills and overall integrity.

How much choice is there in assignments?

Individuals are able to steer their assignments in the directions that most interest them. This has, and will continue to be, an important part of BCG. This does not mean that everyone always ends up on their first choice assignment, although we try. Individual assignments depend on when a consultant is available, the specific skills required by the assignment, the relative balance between client demand and consultant “supply” and the career development needs of the consultant. Over the long term, however, most consultants are able to shape their portfolio of experiences.

How much fluidity is there in cross-cultural staffing? Will I have an opportunity to work in other countries, and will I work in multi-cultural teams?

Answer to the first question: plenty. Answers to the next two questions: yes and yes. From the very beginning of BCG, consultants have been encouraged to have living and working experiences outside their own culture. Although specific client requirements do not allow completely unencumbered individual choice of location and assignment, opportunities abound.

What international opportunities are there?

BCG is a global firm with more than 60 offices worldwide. There is a wide range of international opportunities within the firm. The ambassador program is designed to allow top-performing second-year consultants to complete a one-year exchange with another office. There are also numerous opportunities to work on individual projects in other offices around the world.

LIFESTYLE ISSUES

What kind of travel can I expect?

If you don’t like to travel, you probably should not consider consulting. This is a challenging job, and one of its challenging aspects is the travel.

Nevertheless, BCGers work hard to strike a balance between work/travel and personal life. A balance is critical to being effective over the long run. Three points are worth considering:

Our work mix is quite varied – strategy, operations, internally focused, externally focused. As a result, the travel will vary as a function of the assignment – some are more travel-orientated, some less. A “typical” travel pattern might be two nights and three days per week on the road, but again, projects and patterns vary. Over the long run, most consultants are able to strike a balance.

Our office structure works in our favour here: we have more than 50 offices around the world. Our office philosophy is to put our people in the local markets so that we can serve global clients as locally as possible, in contrast to some firms that build “mega” offices to warehouse people and export them from a central location.

Thirdly, we cannot make real change happen with clients if we are not with them, working side by side and developing a firsthand understanding of them and their businesses. However, unlike other firms, we avoid “camping out” at the client site just for the sake of being seen. On days when we can be more effective in our office rather than at the client site, we work in the office.

Does BCG staff consultants on one or two projects at a time?

Our staffing philosophy is to staff in a way that best serves our clients’ needs. Our work mix tends to be one project at a time, or 100% staffing. This has fit best with many of our recent assignments in industry restructuring, launching new online ventures, and the like. As our work mix changes, we will adapt staffing accordingly

What sort of hours per week can I expect to work?

We work hard. Our clients tend to be demanding, and we tend to be perfectionists. But projects do finish, responsibilities do change, and people do have lives. In BCG there are individuals who continually work enormous numbers of hours and individuals who do not – both successfully. If you were working 60 hours week after week, we would coach you to complete your work within a more reasonable time. To get a deeper understanding of the people at BCG and their lives, see "Our People" or "What It’s Like" on http://www.bcg.com

APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

Can you please tell me a bit about the summer programme?

The summer programme is a chance for you to learn about BCG and at the same time allow BCG to learn about you. The programme is an 6 to 10 week internship (6-8 weeks for associates, 8-10 weeks for MBAs) in which students are hired and assume the role of an associate or consultant. At the end of the internship the large majority of interns are offered full-time positions.

How do I submit a cv?

The most efficient way to submit a cv is through our online application, please refer to the Apply section regarding deadlines.

What is your interview process?

The selection process differs depending on entry level. For MBAs the process consists of two rounds of case study interviews. For more information, please refer to the Apply section on www.bcglondon.com

For Associate recruiting, you will need to apply via the online application. If your application passes the initial sift you will be invited to a testing session including a case based interview. The test consists of a basic numeracy test and is based on GMAT style maths questions. This is then followed by two more rounds of case study interviews. At the interview stage you will meet a number of BCGers and have an opportunity to discuss your aspirations in more detail.

You will be asked to do an informal “case interview”where we give you a challenging problem based on real-life examples from our case work, designed to test your conceptual and analytical abilities as well as your business judgement. The case interview is your opportunity to demonstrate your creativity and impress us with the quality of your thinking. It will also give you a chance to find out how much you like consulting and decide whether it is for you.