BCG case study: how to prepare it?

The written case is a mythical test of recruitment process at Boston Consulting Group, especially for offices in Paris, Casablanca, London and Dubai. This rather particular interview takes place in the 2nd round of the process for permanent recruitment. If you are on an internship, you don't have to worry about it (yet).

This atypical exercise, which is internally called “in basket”, is very specific to BCG, even if we find evidence of the use of a slightly different case study on the side of Bain.

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What is it about ?

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The test takes place in person (when possible) on the premises of the office to which you are applying. It consists of a written case study where you will be asked 3 to 4 questions by a Partner on the fictional project you are going to work on as well as a corpus of around thirty documents in English of all types: graphs, tables, press articles, customer emails etc. You will then have 2 hours of preparation to answer the questions, by drawing the answer slides yourself. In terms of equipment, you will be entitled to pens/markers, a calculator, blank sheets, post-its. Once the 2 hours of preparation have passed, you will have to present your analyses and answer any questions from a Project-Leader or Principal of the firm who will play the role of the client on the project. This exchange lasts about 20 minutes and the interview will end with 10 classic FIT minutes to discuss the firm and your motivations.

In summary:

• In person, in English
• 3 questions to deal with
• Course: 2 hours of preparation alone + 20 min of presentation and 10 min of FIT with a PL/main
• 3-5 Slides to prepare by hand (horizontally)
• Calculator authorized, not allowed to write on the documents provided

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What qualities were tested?
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Through this test, the firm assesses 4 dimensions main ones:

• The problem solving, in formulating hypotheses To be confirmed/refuted
• the ability to manage your time
• the ability to deliver a message clear and concise 
• the ability to managing the relationship with a senior customer
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Conclusion
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The “in-basket” case is the key test in the second round of the BCG recruitment process. Even if your passage to the third round also depends on your performance in the classic second round interview (case study + FIT), passing it would put you in an excellent position to access the final round of recruitment.

We are preparing you for this testE specifically:

• coaching with a BCG consultant to answer all your questions about the event and to share with you 6 concrete and actionable tips to succeed with flying colors (slide templates, tips to go faster, reality of the scale etc.)
• A training session of 2.5 hours in real conditions with a BCG consultant
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Book your support
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Our CDI candidates have 100% of success in the second round of BCG in 2023.