Hi,
Applying for BCG and got past 2 round with consultants and principals. I think I did a good job overall in terms of solving cases. But interviewing with partners sort of freak me out for some reason, due to fact that it can be any format. Is there anything that I need to particularly focus on? I am interviewing in Helsinki.
Hi there,
final partner interviews vary depending on company, region, office and the individual partner of course. However, it is not uncommon that partners won't go through a case exercise with the candidate again but rather test their suitability in terms of business competence, team fit and perceived presentability to clients.
At the partner stage, candidates will have gone through a series of successful case interviews already. Partners still need to “validate” this pre-selection. While some might like to do brain teasers or small cases, they also tend to favor talking about the industry/functional area they are active in. They try to see how the candidate is able to engage with those topics and often even try to sell the candidate on the firm during the final round.
When preparing for such interviews, it makes sense to research the interview partners up front (if their names are provided) and check what recent publications and/or conference contributions they might have. It is also good to know about the main trends and drivers in their respective industry/functional areas. Other than that, everything you did to prepare for the previous rounds still holds true.
Hope that provides additional perspective.
Hi,
first, congratulations on getting through to the Partner round!
While I don't know Helsinki office of BCG, usually the following holds true:
Hope that helps.
Best regards
(edited)
Hi A,
First of all, do not get too concerned and better invest time in preparations. This round might be challenging, so you have to prepare some personal fit stories and make sure you can manage the behavioral part.
I would also recommend to work on some backup stories you could adjust to the interviewer's questions.
Be calm and confident, use left time for practicing and preparations.
I wish you luck!
Best, Andre
How did it go for you anonymous? Will have a final interview with the Helsinki office myself and would be glad for some insights!
Hi, it was a very pleasant experience. Just expect to be drilled with the behavioural questions equally as the case. They really want to understand if you are have the right motivations to do the job and whether you have thought it through. As for the cases, its quite unpredictable in my opinion. I had one tough case, and with the other partner it was just general discussion and was quite chilled. All the best for your interviews! Maybe we'll bump into each other as colleagues :)
He there,
First, don't worry, in my experience, BCG partners are very friendly and approachable people. I would not expect a very different interview than your first interview. On the other hand, make sure that you are super ready for behavioral questions. For the case, I guess you already practiced a lot. Happy to have a free 10 min call to share my thoughts for free. Please reach me if you are interested.
Cheers
Serhat
Hi,
In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:
1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session
2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:
3) Now work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.
