Boston Consulting Group (Senior) Data Scientist interview questions

The overall process is the same as the other posts. Here I focus more on my personal experience. Pros: HR is nice and they are very responsive during the process. HR worked so hard to get the process as quickly as possible. They also inform you the final decision (on-site on Friday) by phone the next Monday regardless of the result. Cons: 1. Their salary is not competitive to the other consulting firms or industries (excluding tech firms because tech firms pay too high). The salary given in the Glassdoor is not accurate, because they recently restructured their hierarchy by combining previous associate level with data scientist. This action allows them to boost the salary average for data scientist level. 2. One of the interviewer I met is so unprofessional. In general, interviewers push you harder during a consulting interview because they emphasize logic thinking. They push you because they want to work with you together to solve the business problems and test your ability. However, this interview pushed me for being rude. He literally interrupted each single sentence I said even during fit questions. Usually interviewers will give you a background about themselves, but he gives me exactly two sentences. He does not trust what I said, even for my current level with my current firm. At the end when I was asking him questions, I am completely shocked. For example, I think questions are used for understanding this company and this role, not for challenging the interviewers. When I asked the expectation of the role, he said "that's too simple, you tell me". When I asked about BCG differentiators, he said "We charge high fees and no client wants to pay such a high fee. They chose us, because they cannot solve their problems. No other consulting firms can neither, because when the client comes to us, he already tried the other consulting firms." That is so so so arrogant. Especially, he knows I am from another consulting firm (not MBB but still prestigious) . Suggestions to BCG: 1. Align your salary with the industry. As a top consulting firm, you definitely need the best data scientists (not only tech skills but also consulting skills) for GAMMA. You are literally competing with tech firms. 2. Train your interviewers. They represent your firm's image. A bad interviewer has a significant negative impact to your hiring process. He will reject good candidates based on his owe preference not the firm's standard. Good candidates may reject your offer due to bad experience. Most importantly, bad interview experience with BCG Gamma also make people think this team are treated as 2nd-tier employees within the firm. Thanks and hope my information can help someone.

The process consists of four phases: - First phone interview with HR (30min). This is the classic discussion of why BCG Gamma, who they are, what are your expectations, what you have done and so on. Do not expect to hear more beyond the memorized HR pitch. - Home task - Day at the office where you applied. You will be interviewing with data scientists and present your home task. In addition, interviews with regular strategy consultants, here you will go through the classic business cases and everything else that an applicant for a management consulting role goes through. - Day at the office in Paris (Europe office for BCG Gamma) having sessions with 3 partners from Gamma. Overall, the process is disappointing. It is time consuming as one has to prepare for interviews on data science and management consulting. The salaries are significantly lower than in the industry (for experienced hires). Moreover, you are expected to have the same lifestyle as a regular strategy consultant (travel 80%, longer hours, intensive projects and tight deadlines) but without the perks (no financial support and time allowance to get a MBA or PhD, no sabbatical, etc). Similarly, it seems data scientists do not have the same standing within the organization as regular consultants. An impression I got repeatedly is that Data Science is being demanded by clients and BCG has to offer it as part of their product portfolio to not be left behind. This is also reflected on the type of projects they do (everything) and a philosophy that domain knowledge on the problem at hand is irrelevant. Similarly, do not expect that your work will go live and be used in production by the client. The focus is on proof of concepts. Summary: If you are a recent grad, want to do data science but are unsure on the industry or on the type of data scientist you would like to be, and you are ok with the consulting lifestyle(read about it, it is not glamorous). Then, Gamma might be for you. BCG is a good name on the CV and it can open you some doors (e.g., be permanently hired by one of your clients). Yet, remember that BCG has no strong reputation in the data science world. Experienced candidates should be aware that they can command a higher salary and have a better lifestyle elsewhere. For those keen on data science consulting, then freelancing is a better option.