BCG - Unusual 2nd Round Interview

I recently completed my 2nd round interviews with BCG, and I'm now at a complete loss as to what to expect based on the HIGHKY unusual flow of the process.

Here is the summary of my interview process to date to help inform your opinions of what could be happening. Group speculation is a lovely antidote to the agony of the waiting game. ;-)

CV Selection: invited to apply by HR, and immediately confirmed for First Round interviews.

First Round interviews: standard - 2 interviews, 2 consultants (good cop, bad cop), 2 cases, each with fit portions.
Had a great feel on Good Cop Case, had a mixed feel on Bad Cop Case.
Called back that same day around 11:00 PM by Bad Cop to warmly congratulate me on my fantastic performance (his words) which he wanted to see replicated in Round 2 with minor adjustments. I asked for clarification and was quoted a variety of metrics (structuring, communication, business judgement, case arithmetic) I was tested on and had excelled in splendidly. Minor adjustment was to slow the pace to make sure interviewer could interject with approval of thesis or dissent on synthesis as needed.

Decision Round interviews: only one partner shows up. Seems immensely displeased to see me and be in the same room with me. Drills down into Fit for about 20 minutes while demonstrating a clear lack of interest unhelpful lay served with a side of mild irritation.
Then we proceed to the case: a minicase with partner essentially demanding my opinions on strategy, and then asking me to defend them.
The case ends abruptly and partner, in resignation, asks me what questions I have for him. I try to engage him, and he responds in detail, albeit noncommitally.
On the dot of the 40th minute, he stops speaking, informs me we are out of time, and gets up and leaves the room (door left hanging open, and I left stunned and remaining seated).

I left the room, thanked HR, and was escorted out by a new HR contact (never met her before) who simply says "Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for you for coming in."

Boston Consulting Group - Bad Second Round Interview

When interviewing with consulting firms or investment banks, you need to expect that your interviews will attempt to test your reaction to weird or stressful situations and that your interviewer might simply not want to be there.

BreakingOutOfPWM:
This shit happens in consulting recruiting. As mentioned earlier one of two things was happening:
  • You were part of a planned stress test routine. If so, hope you kept your cool and handled it well. These situations come up all the time in consulting interviews.
  • Your partner did not want to be there. Someone else could have cancelled and they got called in last minute, there may have been two people slotted but only one showed and had to double duty, they might have just lost a big prospect or client, their kid could have been a shit that morning, etc, etc. These things happen too and can negatively impact your interview but are out of your control.

Either way, sit tight. BCG is pretty good about reaching out fairly promptly but I'd suggest you give them 1-2 weeks before you start pushing. They will almost definitely reach out either way; not all firms do this but MBB takes pride in their professionalism in this regard.

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Best Response

This shit happens in consulting recruiting. As mentioned earlier one of two things was happening:

  1. You were part of a planned stress test routine. If so, hope you kept your cool and handled it well. These situations come up all the time in consulting interviews.

  2. Your partner did not want to be there. Someone else could have cancelled and they got called in last minute, there may have been two people slotted but only one showed and had to double duty, they might have just lost a big prospect or client, their kid could have been a shit that morning, etc, etc. These things happen too and can negatively impact your interview but are out of your control.

Either way, sit tight. BCG is pretty good about reaching out fairly promptly but I'd suggest you give them 1-2 weeks before you start pushing. They will almost definitely reach out either way; not all firms do this but MBB takes pride in their professionalism in this regard.

 

The inevitable follow-up question: why are there if they don't want to be there? Presumably as a partner you have some say in how things are done at your firm.

Something very similar happened to me in the past and to this day I scratch my head about it.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

Dear BreakingoutofPWM,

Thanks for your insights! Very helpful context. :-) I was cool about it, but I somehow doubt it was planned as a stress test. The tone was just...off. Either way, I can confirm that this partner was not called in at the last minute. I had him confirmed via e-mail a full 72 hours in advance of the interview and there was no double duty since he only interviewed in his slot and then left.

 

Just to add context on what looks like a crazy old post that got dragged up... in case any interested interviewees come along.

> I was tested on and had excelled in splendidly. Minor adjustment

While it's possible, undergrad cases typically aren't "splendid". At the very least your interviewer would have seen a lot of cases from super polished MBAs who dedicate a s** ton of time to getting it right - undergrads are rarely at that level (though a more honest, less polished take can actually look better in case interviews). Interviewers will look to give you praise where you do well to encourage you, but when they transition on to areas to improve, don't brush it off. Particularly with first rounds, less experienced interviewers tend to go too soft on the messaging. If they tell you to improve something, don't take it as a "minor adjustment" .

> only one partner shows up.

Case interviews should typically be one person.

> Seems immensely displeased to see me and be in the same room with me. Drills down into Fit for about 20 minutes while demonstrating a clear lack of interest unhelpful lay served with a side of mild irritation.

Don't feed too much on your own perception of your interviewer's attitude. Some people aren't easy to interview with and do have bad attitudes, others just have a brusque style, and others might just be tired and legitimately extremely busy. Maintain your own equilibrium and positive attitude. You're nervous and interviewing, it's easy to misinterpret anything but glowing friendliness as negativity. You are frequently entirely wrong.

> Then we proceed to the case: a minicase with partner essentially demanding my opinions on strategy, and then asking me to defend them. The case ends abruptly and partner, in resignation, asks me what questions I have for him.

Partners tend to go off book in interviews. You should expect it. They're looking less for your highly practiced ability to knock out a case like you've done 40 times with your friends, and more your actual interest in the topic as well as your ability to think and problem solve strategically.

Again, you can't control for a partner's bad day, but nothing feels off in what's described here. This is literally what they'd do on an actual case, and it's what the client would do as well. If you can't go beyond simply forming an opinion to defending and adapting it when challenged, you're going to have a hard time on the job.

And echoing a point above, interest matters a lot! Even if your answers aren't perfect, if you can demonstrate a genuine interest in the questions you're being pressed on, that goes a long way. People who like the topics tend to be a decent fit for the job. If instead you feel insulted, it's not going to go over well.

> I left the room, thanked HR, and was escorted out by a new HR contact (never met her before) who simply says "Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for you for coming in."

That's how every interview anywhere ends.

If I were to postmortem this, I'd guess the OP practiced super hard, got their case interview approach extremely polished, and that went over well in the first rounds (which are more formulaic and run by more junior consultants, in line with what the case books teach you). That also clearly spawned some over-confidence / entitlement. However, over-practicing and an overly formulaic approach is not the key to nailing second round interviews. Flexibility and an actual ability to problem solve, adapt, and defend your conclusions as opposed to "cracking the case" is typically more important.

 

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