Boston Consulting Group reviews

Terrible working hours (I was a consultant there for over 4 years and averaged 85 hours per week with many, many memorable 100+ weeks) Over the course of my tenure, I saw how the grueling hours and stress led to physical and psychological degradation of great people. One of my colleagues would suffer seizures because the medication he normally took for a chronic condition made him drowsy, and he couldn't afford that additional drowsiness when already sleep-deprived on our projects. Another colleague developed a stress-related condition so severe it was mis-diagnosed as breast cancer during the few medical visits she was able to make without repercussions from management. When a manager of mine who was pregnant in her first trimester would leave the boardroom due to morning sickness, (ie. go throw up) our higher-up manager claimed it was "unacceptable for her to just leave the room": he also claimed she should be grateful BCG made arrangements for her to work there while pregnant, since "women getting pregnant was their own choice" (and not, say, a fairly important biological imperative of your species). That BCG institutes a metric system to track work/life balance is indicative of how much of your life will be under its control when you work there: all of it! These are insane costs to pay for prestige and learning.

- No matter what the recruiters say about it being a flat meritocracy, office partners must know and like you for promotion to occur. If you are staffed on projects with no local partner presence, this will hurt you during reviews when you are weighed against peers who have more local partner visibility. Weigh the partners and the indutries in which they practice when deciding which office(s) to prioritize on your application. This reality is especially difficult to manage, given the vagaries of the staffing model (timing and business needs driven at the entry level MUCH more than personal preference driven) and the generalist model of consulting. Try to specialize early and form bonds with strong partners. - Apprenticeship model is best represented, if at all, through interactions with your more-experienced peer group. Do not count on material amounts of guidance from partners. Training sessions are content poor, are typically too high-level, and come across as refashioned pitches to clients rather than an intentional educational curriculum. Otherwise, training depends upon the devotion of the associates to helping other associates and first-year consultants. Knowledge transfer very poorly orchestrated and much unneeded reinvention occurs during cases, which often leads to avoidable late nights. - Despite BCG's claims that it values a diversity of backgrounds, consultants with pre-MBA consulting experience typically fare relatively well. This can be due to the fact that you are expected to hit the ground running. A couple slip ups are tolerated, but one can become marked very quickly. The performance review and partner's opinion of you on your first case is extremely important for setting your trajectory and longevity with the firm. - Be prepared for sponsored associates returning from business school to receive favored staffing status, international opportunities, internal leadership opportunities, etc., which can lead to Orwellian double standards. - Do not be fooled-- it is a partnership for the benefit of the partners. In addition to normal up-or-out policies, stealth layoffs have been relatively common during this downturn. - Murky, black-box performance review process-- be wary when more senior people tell you how transparent and fair it is. They represent survivorship bias and are often politically motivated. The partners in an office will always be able to justify any decision they want. When push comes to shove, no one will be willing to go to the mat for you. - Managing internal politics and partners typically much more difficult than providing value to clients. Inverted pyramid is not uncommon on cases, which makes it difficult to manage competing priorities with unnecessary level of resources. Multiple partners on cases also often leads to poorly defined scope of case from the outset. - Despite a one-case model, multiple partners (each with his/her own perspective and priorities)on same case make it feel like you are working on multiples cases - Lack of personal/family life goes without saying. Do not expect any balance if you want to succeed and have frank discussion with your spouse/significant other prior to accepting full-time offer.