BCG Nightmare

I applied to BCG Middle East in early June and I’m just hearing back from them. I had made final round in early August and it took them 3 months to respond. The emails I received from their recruiters were insane — filled with emojis, broken English, and consistently lied about dates.
After finally connecting in November, I was told that I lacked creativity. Interestingly, I had removed any Jewish extracurriculars from my resume on the portal (ie Hillel). It was only after this that they gave me a final round interview date.
Both interviewers made explicitly anti Semitic comments during interview without prompt. Would highly recommend never interacting with BCG Middle East — it is run like a chicken shop and filled with deeply prejudiced people. #BCG #BCGMiddleEast

 

Oh, that sounds like a rough experience, and I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through it. It's disheartening to hear about such instances of prejudice and unprofessionalism. It's important to remember that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their background or beliefs. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, don't hesitate to stand up for yourself and report any inappropriate behavior. Remember, you're not alone in this journey, and there are many resources and communities out there that can provide support and guidance. Keep your chin up and don't let this experience discourage you from pursuing your goals.

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I've made this comment before, but it's best to think of Middle East offices separate of their North American or Asian counterparts. They are run very differently from an HR perspective with average end-to-end process taking 3-5 months. My own experience spanned 13 months. Yes. More than a goddamn year for non-conversion. Anyway, the entire region is heavily political, bureaucratic and not indicative of the firm's culture anywhere else.
 
On the flip side, BCG Middle East is known for their lavish corporate events (Yacht parties, Hotel Casino parties, etc.) and diverse exposure from their government work with the Saudi Arabian government. Many folks who join do so having come from a Master's at a Top 15 US or European school, or have already worked a few years in the industry at Oliver Wyman, Bain, LEK, and want to get a more diverse geographic exposure. Finally, the common exit opportunity from these offices is US MBA for re-recruitment into US landscape or internal office rotation after 1-3 years. 

I have to say, I've recruited in almost every major country (exception for some Asian countries that have strict language requirements), and I've never seen a process as archaic and inefficient as the Middle East. I truly believe their standards of HR embed a level of racism into the process. For instance, a colleague from MBB who joined the firm had a referral from a Director who was somewhat connected to the crown prince. That colleague's interview process, end to end, was 10 days. Not 10 business days, From Wednesday of one week to Friday of the next (In place of the typical 60-150 days). 

 

Regardless of what one thinks of MBB consultants, most people would agree that they are smart.  Far too smart to fall into a trap of inappropriate comments to some college kid who will likely complain to HR about it

 

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