Probably bombed my 1st interview for 1st round - asking opinion

Question

A little bit about context:

1. I am applying for BCG full time in one of SEA (South East Asia) office. Specifically, one of the practices (still a generalist but tied to a certain practice)

2. I am 33 yrs old, now doing an MBA. I have the exact experience of industry as per BCG job ads. Thats why they called me to interview

Case & Fit

So this is regarding my 1st interview for 1st round that I recently did. I will have my 2nd interview for 1st round next week. The interviewer was Partner level eventhough this is 1st round.

The fit part was okay (I think). Your standard questions, introduce yourself, relevant skill for consulting, and why BCG and SEA office. Was 12 mins more or less. The interviewer drilled me just a bit on one of my work in the previous company.

It was a case regarding private investor wants to invest in a ride hailing company in Indonesia.
I think my structure was okay..although the interviewer did ask about what's missing in the market segment and I did answer market profitability.
The problem started in market sizing. My structure for market sizing I think was fine but the interviewer did comment on my approach that was not considering % of people who wanted to want to use ride hailing. After the remarks I included it.
However I did 4 mistakes:

1. 64x9 was supposed to be 576 but I did 486. The interviewer commented on it and I revised it ( I did think I get it right at first, and then the intervewer said are you sure?)

2. There was a brainstorming question that I realised just now, right in the middle of market sizing: why people would consider to use ride hailing? And I stupidly did not structure it and it was very plain answer: people already installed their payment (credit cards, etc) and they really need to go. The interviewer noted: no not just that, and they I said convenience, that they actually need to go at that time, and it is affordable.

3.To reach the final result, I was supposed to consider a portion of the market (since it's a company) but I forget market share. I also forget that the investor only invested 10% (was in the prompt) The interviewer commented and I revised.
After done, it was already over time but they gave me time to ask questions. I asked about prospect of the practice in SEA and we discussed a bit about my as well.

4. After the final answer I did conclusion, using answer and risk and recommendation but I think I forgot restating the question

So my questions:

1. What is your opinion on my performance?

2. If for example I perform better in the 2nd (the 2nd people is a Principal but the first one I did was partner), will it sway the result?

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi,

Congratulations on interviewing with BCG. Given your work experience and your MBA, I assume you are interviewing for the role of consultant.

Regarding your recent interview, I understand that you may feel uncertain about your performance. Unfortunately, I cannot judge whether it meets the bar. However, it's important to note that interviewers often probe for deeper business judgment and insights, which can leave candidates questioning their responses (and feeling like they underperformed). This process is designed to assess your analytical rigor and business judgement in this way.

What you do very well is understanding where your areas of improvement lie. In your next interview, it is vital you show improvement on exactly these areas. A very good performance in your second interview can definitely compensate for an average (or sometimes below average) performance in your first interview. So keep in mind that your performance in the next round will definitely influence the outcome.

If you have any further questions or need additional guidance, feel free to reach out.

Best regards,

Oliver

Answer 2

Many mistakes, clear a systematic weakness in the market sizing exercise. Which is actually one you can train previously. You will need to do a strong market sizing in order to get the offer.

Given that this is the 2nd interview of the same round, it is not clear you will have a market sizing. But you will definitely have one in the next round. Make sure you are very well prepared for that. I run market estimates focused coaching sessions, if that's something you'd like to try.

If you have a strong 2nd interview, with a clear spike in your performance (i.e., an area where you do very well), you have a chance to move to the next round.

P.S. Forgetting to “Restate the question” is not a mistake at all. You are not being evaluated on that. The reason why it is advisable to restate the question is to make sure that your recommendation is addressing that specific question (if it is not, then that is a relevant mistake).

Answer 3

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with BCG thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

First of all, it seems like you made quite a few mistakes during the interview, but it's really hard to judge your performance from an outside perspective. I would therefore advise you to distract yourself and not think about whether your performance was solid enough or not.
Moreover, in the end, all interviewees must agree with the decision and there is no weighting of their opinions.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

You can find the consulting salaries report 2024 here!

Answer 4

Hi there,

1. Fully agree with Pedro, albeit it's always difficult to comment on a performance you have not seen live. It sounds like you made quite a few errors throughout the interview.

2. Both interviewers would need to agree on the offer, not just one.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 5

Hi there,

1) What is your opinion on my performance?

From your description, there were indeed several issues, so at least in terms of that specific interview, it doesn’t look very promising.

2) If for example I perform better in the 2nd, will it sway the result?

You will need both interviewers to agree that it is a pass to move to the next round. Sometimes, if the interviewers are unsure, they might offer a third interview to clear possible doubts. Regardless, the best option you have now is to do your best in the second interview.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 6

First of all, good job on the introspection process.

In that sense, you seem to have a good grasp of what went well and what went wrong.

It's impossible to tell since I wasn't in the actual interview, but based on your description, the performance sounds borderline to under-borderline.

They might still give you a chance to improve on the feedback before the next round.

Let's hope for the best.

In the meantime, try to keep yourself busy and make useful progress by applying to other roles.

Best,
Cristian