Pros
- Work on huge variety of business problems - including high level strategy, corporate development/M&A, marketing & sales, organization, operations - across multiple industries - Hone hard-core analytics, high level strategic thinking, and communication skills - Relative to other top consulting firms, strong focus on work-life balance - local staffing and strong local client base means less travel, partners/principals generally flexible, etc. - Partners generally accessible and insistent upon challenging how team (including themselves) thinks through solving client problems - Excellent reputation as top tier strategy firm - Generally down to earth culture and sharp colleagues who typically don't fit into one mold - i.e., hard to stereotype BCG consultants b/c firm values diverse backgrounds and individuality - Top notch benefits package (100% BCG paid health coverage, annual employer contribution to immediately vested profit sharing plan - in addition to annual cash bonus)
Cons
Overall, downsides are primarily the nature of working in strategy consulting and not BCG specific: - Hours can fluctuate greatly, with high highs (although still not banking hours) and low lows - Even with best clients with strongest relationships, still an advisor and sometimes treated as such - Time spent creating and iterating client decks BCG specific - Local staffing generally a plus in less travel and building relationships with local office, but forces you to be more proactive if interested in networking across offices - Problem solving approach typically good mix of "blank slate" vs. leveraging firm's accumulated intellectual capital, but could sometimes do a better job on the latter
