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Haven't heard back from BCG

Hi everyone, I completed 2 first round interview with BCG and haven't received any results from them for a month. 

I emailed them 2 weeks ago, they replied that my result is in the midst of decision making and require more time to decide. I emailed them yesterday too, but no response.

Is this normal? Should I treat this as rejection or continue waiting?

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Top answer
Dennis
Coach
on Aug 16, 2024
Roland Berger|Project Manager and Recruiter|7+ years of consulting experience in USA and Europe

Hi there,

before decisions are communicated after each round, they have to be aligned between HR and the interviewers in the process. This can sometimes take time for various reasons. A few common ones are listed below for a general overview:

  • internal scheduling conflicts between HR and the interviewers, especially when partners need to be involved
  • the firm is still conducting more interviews with other candidates and they might want to wait for that to play out to look at the full candidate picture before moving candidates forward
  • in cases of final rounds, offers have been extended to “first choice” candidates and the firm is trying to keep “backup” candidates on hold until they know who accepted and who declined their first batch of offers
  • holidays or year-end shutdown delay the decision-making and communication process
  • there is uncertainty internally around budget and the exact headcount they can actually hire so they are trying to buy time

I know that this is unsettling and every candidate wants to have clarity on the status sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, you'll always have to wait for the official word. It is legitimate, though, to politely follow up for an update after not hearing back for two weeks. If you have a competing offer already, you should of course follow up before you run the risk of that expiring.

However, it is best to just assume a rejection and continue with the recruiting efforts with other firms until you have a written offer in your hands. That way you at least won't lose time.

Best of luck

Udayan
Coach
on Aug 16, 2024
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /12 years recruiting experience

It is becoming more and more normal to take time and decide. The reason is that there is so much economic uncertainty which means firms cannot predict demand for their services. What they want to avoid is over hiring like 2 years ago so they are just taking things slower and only hiring once the pipeline for next 6-12 months is clearer.

There is not much you can do at this point but continue to wait for them to decide, apart from applying to other firms. They would have rejected you if you were not a strong candidate, they only keep you waiting if you meet the bar.

Florian
Coach
on Aug 16, 2024
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 500+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU

Hi there,

If it takes this long, I don't believe it's based on your performance → If you did not meet the bar, they could have rejected you right away.

I believe that it's due to the current hiring situation:

They are not sure about their hiring goals and the economic situation/client demand is very fragile. They want to hedge their bets and have candidates in the pipeline or on the waitlist until they have more visibility on project demand.

Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Florian

on Aug 22, 2024
Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Hi,

Typically they would take 2-3 weeks to come back, based on my experience.

However, given that they have already responded that they need more time, the only thing you can do is wait. It does NOT mean you are rejected. As frustrating as it can be, you will only know the result when the formal decision is communicated to you.

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