Great clients and peers, development and leadership of partners leave much to be desired
Pros
- The friendships you make during your summer/first few years will last and last. It's like working with some of your best and smartest friends from college. - Very quick way to form perspectives about drivers of organizational dysfunction-- both internally and in client situations - Incredible alumni network that is very willing to provide advice when you reach out for career guidance. - Tremendous (and often underappreciated) health benefits and profit sharing plan. - You will learn very fast about the BCG approach to casework (or you won't be there very long), which, on average, is a great approach to solving problems and creating competitive advantage for any type of business in any industry. - Lifelong access to BCG Career Services department.
Cons
- 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.
