BCG Consulting Senior Associate - Case Interview

Hey there 🙂, taking 3-4 weeks to prepare is perfectly fine—it's actually a smart move to give yourself the time to fine-tune your approach, especially for Senior Associate cases at BCG which tend to be more complex. You'll likely face cases that delve deeper into profitability, market sizing, and strategic analysis, with an added emphasis on leadership and impact, so while they’re tougher than entry-level cases, a focused prep period will set you up well. Best, Alessa 😇

Hi there,

3-4 weeks of prep is on the shorter end of what I usually recommend (depending on your starting position and time you can invest per day).

Here's how you could structure it:
 

• The key reason why candidates fail their case interviews and don't improve with practice is because they never learn the right approach and techniques to begin with. They might go through 30-40 cases, just repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There is often no strong baseline.

• Make sure you understand and learn the basics for each part of the case (structuring, charts, math), which is

  • A replicable step-by-step for each part of the case interview

  • The right thinking techniques around the individual parts (e.g., what's a framework, what is evaluated, how can I ensure I think about it the correct way, what are some shortcuts to get to the answer quickly, etc.)

  • Simple communication templates to help you communicate your insights as well as ask for data in the right way to drive the case forward

• There are several approaches you can take, such as hiring a skilled coach, reading the right materials, or enrolling in relevant courses. For example, my book provides direct guidance tailored to modern case interviews. It covers all the essential points mentioned here, and more, while also offering a detailed preparation plan. You can find it on Amazon

• Avoid generic advice and framework memorization approaches. This will only hurt your performance and waste a ton of time (why -> check out the first post here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-goodrelevant-is-the-case-in-point-book-for-case-prep-1984)

• Once you have that baseline it's time to practice and internalize the skills to create the right profile, polishing your strengths and lifting your weaknesses to a robust-enough level

• Practice drills alone (structure, chart, math) and practice full cases with other excellent candidates that know the right habits and approach. It is crucial that you are practicing with really good peers, otherwise, it's a waste of time. Practicing drills on your own is a huge effectivity and efficiency booster since you can go over many more questions in a shorter amount of time compared to practicing with peers. Do both in parallel! You want to spend your time where it is most useful, e.g., if you struggle with math focus on math drills, etc.

• Focus on quality over quantity. Doing 50+ cases does not mean much if you are not applying the right habits to score high and do a detailed debrief after every case to improve. You want to move from bad to good for your weaknesses and good to great for your strengths --> use the feedback from your previous experience and tailor your prep accordingly

• Consider booking at least an initial coaching session to get a detailed and objective evaluation of your performance + learn the right habits for every case regardless of context and framework + get a tailored preparation plan out of the session that will set you up for an effective and efficient prep.

• It does not hurt to focus a bit more on the relevant industries of your interviewer but chances are that not every case will be from that niche!

• Don't forget the fit interview part. Prepare answers for all the typical fit questions and stories (3-5 hours) and rehearse them a couple of times (5 hours)

All the best,

Florian

Hello there!

Is it fine to take 3-4 weeks to prepare for the real interview, or is that too much?

If you haven’t started preparing yet, that is actually the least amount of time you could ask for. I would ask for a postponement of 2 months. You can honestly say that you appreciate the opportunity and want to make the most out of it, therefore you need more time to prepare. Worst thing they can say is “no” and give you a shorter period to prepare, but you have nothing to lose by asking.

 Additionally, what type of cases should I expect, and what is the difficulty level?

That varies, expect traditional case interviews all consulting companies use, in a variety of ways (industries and problems); unless you’re applying for a specific practice (e.g.: risk, collections, digital), but even then it is common to see cases unrelated to the practices. The level of the case is the same as for other roles, difficult. The bar will be higher depending on the position you’ll be applying to, for senior associate you should bring insights and a level of knowledge that prove your seniority.

Let me know if a professional coaching session to assist you would be helpful. Happy to chat about in a 15min free introductory meeting.

Best,

Mari

Hi there, 

let's take those questions one by one: 

Is it fine to take 3-4 weeks to prepare for the real interview, or is that too much? 
I would say it totally depends on where you currently stand with your preparation. If you are just getting started, 3-4 weeks is actually quite tight. Excelling in the case part of those interviews is all about repetition (doing cases with mates, coaches etc.). In that case I would recommend to see how the mock interview goes. If you did not as well as you wanted to, you might consider postponing for another 3-4 weeks. If you are already fully prepped and just reached your "peak" and for some reason cannot keep up the prep over the next weeks, you might want to consider asking them for an earlier interview. You want to be "in the game" as much as possible when taking the real interviews. 

Additionally, what type of cases should I expect, and what is the difficulty level?
Per se, Consulting cases could touch any industry or problem setting. However, oftentimes interviewers convert their real life cases into interview case studies. I.e., since you are interviewing for Middle East it might have an Energy (Oil and Gas), Infrastructure or Private Equity spin. On the functional side it could be anything (market entry, profitabilty cases etc.). I would not try to prepare for one thing or industry in particular. Instead rather focus on doing as many mock cases as possible. 

Best, 
Sebastian