Boston Consulting Group is among the firms most sought after by business and engineering school students, and its recruitment process has its own features: a logic test from the first round, a written case study for some roles, case interviews often described as more open than elsewhere, and detailed feedback after each step. The firm publishes a fairly precise description of this process for its Paris office, on the school pages of its careers website. This article relies on those official pages and compares them with other firms, so that you do not prepare for the wrong exercise.
Entry routes into BCG
The Paris office recruits at several levels, with similar processes.
- The gap-year internship. BCG takes gap-year interns, presented as pre-hire internships. The firm specifies on its school pages 🔗 that it asks candidates to apply for the second part of their gap year, once they have gained a first significant professional experience.
- The final-year internship. It follows the same process as full-time recruitment. Internships must be covered by an internship agreement and last at least five months, which allows interns to take part in two or three projects.
- The full-time Associate role, after graduation.
- Roles for experienced hires and MBAs, with adapted processes, as well as technical roles (data, technology, design) within the firm’s specialist teams.
The firm states that the final-year internship and full-time processes are identical, and that the choice depends mainly on your academic calendar and on whether you want to test the job before committing. It also states that about 85% of its interns receive a full-time offer at the end of their internship, which makes the internship a major entry point.
Application screening
Applications are made online, on the careers portal, by creating a profile in which you state your preferred offices. BCG advises not to multiply applications and to limit yourself to three or four offices at most, each office answering independently.
The firm states that responses generally come within two to four weeks of submission, given the volume of CVs received. It recommends applying four to six months before your desired start date.
BCG does not publish a CV screening grid. Its careers pages stress intellectual curiosity, creative thinking and problem-solving ability. It does not set, on its pages, any compulsory path through a particular industry.
In practice, a CV that passes this filter highlights:
- a solid, readable academic record;
- at least one long experience, which shows professional reflexes;
- evidence of initiative and responsibility;
- flawless form, on one page.
The strategy consulting intern CV template matches precisely the profile of a gap-year candidate applying for their second period, after a first corporate internship.
The online case
Depending on the office and the role, BCG uses different online tests. For the Paris office, the first round includes an interview and a logic test. For its offices in Germany and Austria, the firm describes a thirty-minute cognitive test, multiple-choice, without aids, covering numerical, verbal and logical abilities. For its US offices, it mentions a consulting career assessment sent shortly after the application, then an online case of about thirty-five minutes for some candidates.
These variations show that you should always check the exact format for the office you are targeting, in the invitation or with your HR contact. Our article on consulting firms’ online tests describes the main families of tests and realistic preparation.
BCG also gives candidates, once the first round is scheduled, access to a coaching portal with practice resources, and offers support from a consultant during the preparation phase.
Case interviews, more open than elsewhere
The Paris process consists of three rounds of interviews, over four to six weeks:
- first round: one interview and a logic test;
- second round: one interview and a written case study for final-year internships and full-time roles, or two interviews for gap-year internships;
- third round: one or two interviews with a Partner.
Each interview generally combines a discussion of your background and a case. BCG describes on its preparation page 🔗 what it expects: structure your approach, ask thoughtful questions, analyse data, perform quick calculations, identify the most important factors, and communicate clearly. It insists that there is not a single right answer: what matters is the quality of the reasoning.
Candidates often describe BCG cases as more open than those of other firms: the interviewer presents the problem, then lets the candidate drive the analysis, suggest avenues and ask for data. The firm does not put it exactly that way, but its advice points in that direction: on its page about the process in German-speaking offices, it invites candidates to avoid standardised concepts, to be creative in their solutions and to keep the discussion with the interviewer lively.
This has two consequences for preparation:
- the structure must be built for the case, not recited; our article on case interview frameworks shows how;
- you must be able to drive: announce what you want to analyse, ask for the useful data, propose a hypothesis and test it, without waiting for the interviewer to guide every step.
The written case study in the second round is a feature to prepare for: the candidate receives a file of documents, analyses it under time pressure and prepares a short presentation. It tests the ability to sort information, synthesise and build a few readable slides.
Motivation and background questions
BCG presents on its interview process page 🔗 an interview step that explores your experience, skills and motivation for joining the firm, as an opportunity to go beyond your CV. The firm also quotes a former consultant reminding candidates that interviews include a behavioural part, not to be neglected amid case preparation.
The questions cover:
- your background: your choice of studies, your internships, what you learnt from them;
- your leadership and teamwork experiences;
- your motivation for consulting and for BCG in particular.
The preparation method is described in our article on the fit interview: a small stock of precise, structured stories that you can tell and develop.
What sets this process apart
Compared with other large firms, the BCG Paris process has a few distinctive features, worth keeping in mind so as not to prepare for the wrong exercise.
| Element | BCG (Paris office) | What you find elsewhere | |---|---|---| | First-round test | Logic test, alongside an interview | Problem-solving game at McKinsey, varied tests depending on the firm | | Case format | Often described as open, candidate-led | More sequenced cases at McKinsey, judging by its sample cases | | Written case study | In the second round for final-year internships and full-time roles | Rare elsewhere, or reserved for some roles | | Feedback to candidates | Detailed feedback after each round | Varies across firms | | Gap year | Application for the second part of the gap year | Varies |
Detailed feedback after each round is an asset: even if you are rejected, it tells you what to work on. BCG states that a new application is considered after at least twelve months, provided you have gained at least six months of additional experience.
For comparison with another large firm, our article on recruitment at McKinsey details a process organised around the Solve game and the Personal Experience Interview.
Your CV will be reread at each round by different people: it must be accurate and consistent with what you will say. The strategy consultant CV template shows the typical document of a candidate who has already done an internship at a firm. To tidy up yours, the ConseilCV editor handles the layout and produces a PDF that screening tools read without error.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the process take at BCG Paris?
The firm states three rounds of interviews over four to six weeks, and recommends applying four to six months before your desired start date.
Can you apply to BCG for the first period of a gap year?
The firm asks candidates to apply for the second part of the gap year, after a first significant professional experience. Use the first period for an internship that will give you evidence to put on your CV.
Can you reapply after a rejection?
Yes. BCG states that the application is considered again after at least twelve months and if you have gained at least six months of additional experience, in an internship or a permanent role. This rule applies to all its offices.
Are interviews conducted in English?
Part of them may take place in English, depending on the interviewers and offices. In its German-speaking offices, for example, the firm states one case in German and one in English in the second round. Prepare in both languages.
Sources
- Boston Consulting Group, HEC Paris school page, Paris office recruitment process 🔗
- Boston Consulting Group, Interview process 🔗
- Boston Consulting Group, Case interview preparation 🔗
- Boston Consulting Group, Bewerbung und Interviews 🔗
- McKinsey & Company, Interviewing at McKinsey 🔗