How to negotiate with BCG to join as Project Leader?

Hi,

Interesting question and very relevant for many experienced hires with significant industry experience.

If I can give some advice based on having gone through the ranks at BCG and also seen my fair share of lateral / experienced hires succeed or crash and burn:

• I would suggest that you negotiate to join as a C2 (consultant year 2), and not directly as a PL
• The reality is that the PL role is really the most difficult / challenging role in consulting, and it is a very steep learning curve even for homegrown consultants, much less lateral hires or experienced hires without previous consulting experience
• Joining as a C2 (if not C1) will at least let you learn abit of the ropes of doing the consultants job before you try and manage a team in consulting 
  • Arguably, even a year is not that long to learn the core skills that are needed to make a good consultant
• You may feel that your project management experience gives you an edge over your peers, and this will be true to a certain extent, but based on my experience, there is often a delta in expectations and intensity of what you may have been used to versus what is expected in MBB

I have personally known people with 8-12 years of work experience in industry and have joined BCG as C2s or even C1s. I am not saying that you will never succeed if you manage to even get a PL role, but based on my observations I have seen more lateral hires suffer than actually excel if they do not have prior consulting experience.

Hope this helps - happy to have a more detailed chat, just dm me.

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer! In terms of your question:

Q: Can you give me some suggestions how can I negotiate to ask for a more senior role than regular MBA hires to commensurate with my experience? 

It is quite difficult to join directly as a Project Leader without previous consulting experience, however you might be able to negotiate a fast-track promotion, meaning that if you perform well, you could move from Consultant to PL after a few months. This will also decrease the pressure to perform well as PL from the start, as mentioned by Benjamin.

The best way to have leverage in a negotiation is to have an “opportunity cost”, meaning another offer for a position similar to the one you would like.

Good luck!

Francesco

I typically tell people not to negotiate for more senior roles if they're planning on being mid to long-term in consulting. I already wrote about this here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/seniority-negotiation-20046?location=home

So, instead of writing the same thing, let me tell you about an example from when I was in consulting. 

McK recruited the CTO of a large european software - I was serving this client at that time. They started him off as Senior Associate (yes, you read that right). He made Partner in 4 years, quickly cycling through EM and AP. 

Starting him off as Senior Associate was very smart because, realistically, the guy was amazing but had no experience on how to be part of a McK team or lead one. This way, he had one year to adjust and then got promoted to EM. 

Typically, all the people that I saw coming in at a more senior level (and who had pushed for this more senior level), were rather tragic characters, constantly burned out and overwhelmed. 

In short, you might get the EM role directly, but it might not be the best thing for you. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

3 things:

1. Get a coach (to help you with wording, etc.)
2. Ace the case interview
3. Ace the behavioral 

Seriously. You have to crush the interview and SHOW THEM that you are Project lead level. The better you do, the more likely you can land that.

The more seriously you take the prep (long timeline, professional coaching, etc.), the better your odds.

The Most Common Pitfalls in Case Interview Preparation
 

Dos and Don'ts in a Case Interview
 

How to Shift Your Mindset to Ace the Case
 

Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect With Example Cases

The real issue is that being a Project Leader without consulting experience (or project leadership on “consulting style” projects) is very difficult, and for good reasons. It is a very demanding job, you'll be asked to structure the approach, to coach people, basically to completely master the day-to-day of a consulting project.

So if you never did it before… consulting firms ask you to join at a lower level, so you can get some of that experience, before promoting you to a project management role.

Hey,

Usually, the position you are offered is defined by your interview performance, including the seniority level that you demonstrate. If they decide you should join as a PL, they'll extend you the according offer.

However, I'd agree with the other coaches here that it's a safer route for you to join as a Consultant, get a consulting toolkit and then get promoted to a PL.

Good luck!
Nick

Hi there,

Agree with Benjamin here!

I have seen a few direct-to-EM hires crash and burn…

I'd start as proposed but negotiate for a fast-track promotion window. Check out my book Consulting Career Secrets on how to get there! :-)

All the best,

Florian