Boston Consulting Group – A Dominant Force in Consulting
When it comes to consulting firms there are a few names sure to show up on any MBAs dream job list: McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Deloitte Consulting, and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). While McKinsey reigns on top in Vault.com’s ranking of the most prestigious consulting firms on Earth, BCG has had a lock on the number two spot for almost 10 years.
BCG is (you guessed it!) a Boston-based, worldwide management consulting firm with offices across the globe. Like other top consulting firms, BCG advises clients in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including a healthy chunk of Fortune 500 companies.
Bruce D. Henderson, a Vanderbilt University and Harvard Business School graduate, founded BCG in 1963. After spending years in the purchasing department of Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Henderson decided to branch out on his own, starting a one-man, one-telephone consulting unit at The Boston Company. He named his new firm Boston Consulting Group. In the years to follow, BCG became a dominant force in the consulting world. Today, BCG consultants collaborate with clients, orchestrate company strategies, and recognize the distinctive organizational dynamics that guide industry leaders to recognizing and responding to the changing business world.
According to current CEO Rich Lesser,
BCG partners with our clients in solving the hardest problems challenging their businesses — and the world. We do this by channeling the diversity of our people and their thinking, as well as our shared commitment to uncovering the truth. The solutions we develop in partnership with our clients transform not just companies but also entire industries and even segments of society.
At the core of our business and our organization is close collaboration — among our employees at all levels and with our clients. Working together, our people continually challenge themselves and their colleagues to develop and implement innovative new approaches.
BCG and the MBA
According to CCN Money, about 13 percent of all MBAs want to work at BCG. But how do you gain an inside track to a job with the firm?
Tina Gao, a BCG principal in the D.C. office and one of the region’s recruiting directors spoke with Cosmopolitan, providing insight on how to get hired by BCG.
Gao spoke to what the firm looks for in every candidate:
We want to see curiosity and humility in everyone. People who work here are really driven to ask why. Being humble is what grounds us. We’re hired to help our clients think, but we don’t know everything and we don’t pretend to.
When asked if advanced degrees are required to enter as a consultant, Gao replied:
Yes, you need an MBA, law degree, or master’s. But if you start as an associate, you could spend your whole career here — even make partner — without going back to school. But we do value education, which is why we have a graduate school assistance program. We’ll pay for your GMAT classes, and if you get into a graduate program and you are in good standing in your job, we will pay for your two years of school and provide you with a living stipend while you’re gone. When you graduate, your job is here for you. The only requirement is that you work at BCG for two years after graduation.
Gao also offered insight on where BCG recruits their potential candidates:
The most traditional path here is on campus…. We have a presence at many of the top universities across the U.S., including Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, University of Michigan, Duke, and the University of Texas. We come to campus and hold a presentation to introduce the company and then are available for Q&A sessions. We also come back to help people train for our interviews and learn more about the company. We’ll come back to campus to interview the candidates we choose.
What Other Schools Do BCG and the Other “Big Four” Consulting Firms Recruit From?
The London Business School released career data that showed BCG, Bain and McKinsey are among the top four recruiters of MBA graduates. The trio collectively hired 72 of 401 MBAs in 2015; McKinsey hired 38 alone.
Additionally, according to data provided by BecauseBusiness, consulting firms like BCG hired the largest percentage of the following schools MBA graduates. The starting median salaries are also included:
- INSEAD – 43 percent ($140,000)
- Emory Goizueta – 38 percent ($135,000)
- Northwestern Kellogg – 35 percent ($140,000)
- Columbia – 35 percent ($140,000)
- Dartmouth Tuck – 34 percent ($140,000)
- LBS – 33 percent ($111,000)
- MIT Sloan – 32 percent ($140,000)
- Chicago Booth – 32 percent ($140,000)
- Duke Fuqua – 32 percent ($135,000)
- Michigan Ross – 31 percent ($135,000)
If you’re an MBA who wants to get your foot in the door at BCG, it’s worth looking into the BCG Fellows MBA Program, which provides top applicants with monetary awards and individual mentorship by BCG consultants. The fellow program is only available to full-time MBAs studying at the following business programs: Columbia Business School, Fuqua School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stern School of Business, Tuck School of Business, University of California, Los Angeles – Anderson School of Management, University of Chicago – Booth, University of Michigan – Ross, University of Virginia – Darden, The Wharton School and Yale School of Management.