Guide to Working at BCG

BCG, also known as Boston Consulting Group, is a huge global consulting firm that prides itself on helping leaders worldwide confront their biggest challenges. Working in a variety of industries, BCG aims to help companies unlock their full potential and capitalize on opportunities.

If you’re considering working at BCG, we’ve compiled all the details you need about BCG’s  jobs, salaries, benefits, and more.

What Is BCG?

Founded in 1963, BCG is a pioneer of business strategy, looking for ways to challenge the status quo in management consulting. Now, the company operates over 100 offices in more than 50 countries. 

BCG is one of the Big Three consulting companies alongside McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company. Together, these firms are known as the world’s most prestigious management consulting firms. Currently, BCG brings in over $11 billion in annual revenue and employs around 30,000 people globally. 

So, what does BCG do? Boston Consulting Group’s purpose is “unlocking the potential of those who advance the world.” Fundamentally, the company assists its clients in identifying areas for growth in their businesses and coming up with new perspectives and innovative solutions.

Some of the industries BCG works with include: 

• Education
• Energy
• Industrial Goods
• Telecommunications
• Aerospace

Across these industries, BGC helps clients solve complex problems with expert consultants in areas like innovation, cost management, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and customer insights.

BCG Internship Opportunities  

If you’re a student just beginning your career exploration process, BCG has internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to jumpstart their careers.

BCG offers internships in:

• Business operations
• Consulting
• Data science and analytics
• Finance
• Product management
• Research and insights
• Technology and engineering

Through these programs, you can get a glimpse into what a career at BCG is like, working with real clients and building in-demand skills. 

BCG Jobs and Salaries

If you’re considering working at BCG, examining  the various departments and potential career paths can help you find a job that’s the right fit for your experience and goals. BCG hires across a range of teams and departments, including consulting, finance, human resources, marketing, project management, and software engineering. 

We’ve gathered some common job titles across BCG’s firm and included salary range estimates from Glassdoor. These ranges are representative of U.S.-based positions for employees with less than one year of experience in that role.

Consulting Roles

As the company’s core, BCG’s consulting team helps clients develop new business strategies and ideas. The typical consulting track begins at associate, then moves to consultant, project leader, principal, and partner. 

However, outside of that path, there are many opportunities for people to move across functions and explore their passions in different business areas. The average salary estimates for positions within BCG’s consulting team include: 

• Associate: $47,000 to $82,000. 
• Consultant: $59,000 to $109,000
• Principal consultant: $115,000 to $208,000

Internal Functions

Internal functions at BCG include areas that keep the company running, such as business operations, finance, human resources, legal and risk management, and marketing. Some examples of internal functions roles with estimated salaries are: 

• Executive assistant: $47,000 to $71,000
• Financial analyst: $63,000 to $90,000
• Business analyst: $62,000 to $90,000
• Legal partner: $135,000 to $251,000

Digital Roles

BCG’s digital roles include teams that focus on product management, data science and analytics, and technology engineering. These teams help clients build new products, innovate their businesses with artificial intelligence (AI), and manage risks with cutting-edge technology.  The types of job titles and estimated salaries for  positions on these  teams are: 

• Product manager: $75,000 to $131,000   
• Project manager: $57,000 to $99,000
• Data scientist: $87,000 to $144,000
• AI software engineer: $100,000 to $164,000

Specialty Roles

Specialty roles at BCG include positions in UX and design strategy, research, and climate and sustainability. These jobs have specialty focuses that differentiate them from other jobs in BCG’s internal, consulting, or digital teams. Some job titles and salary estimates for specialty roles include: 

• Research associate: $62,000 to $105,000
• Strategic designer: $77,000 to $144,000
• Lead knowledge analyst: $66,000 to $115,000

BCG Benefits 

When you start a career with BCG, you’re signing on for some impressive perks and benefits. On average, BCG employees rate their benefits 4.8 out of 5 stars on Glassdoor. Although your position, location, and length of time with the company may impact your overall package, these are some general benefits you can expect as a full-time employee:    

• Parental benefits: In addition to parental leave, BCG offers adoption and fertility assistance for prospective parents at some of their offices. Certain locations also have backup childcare available. 
• Flexibility benefits: BCG offers employees hybrid and remote working options. They also allow employees flex time in between cases to refresh and reboot.
• Alumni benefits: BCG’s alumni network helps current and former employees network and connect. With over 250 former employees leading Fortune 500 companies, BCG’s alumni events open doors for employees to advance professionally with career services, a global job board, and social media groups.

A career with BCG also includes employee resource groups, mental health and well-being services, and healthy food and drink options in offices. Some BCG office locations even offer employees tuition reimbursement and transportation benefits.

BCG Culture

Finding the right company culture fit is essential for a satisfying career. Glassdoor lists Boston Consulting Group as one of the top 100 Best Places to Work for 2024. 

BCG’s values include integrity, diversity, respect for the individual, client-first, strategic perspective, partnership, social impact, and expanding the art of the possible. 

MIT’s Culture 500 examined employee reviews to see how they perceive the company’s values. Here’s what it discovered:

• The most commonly positively discussed value was collaboration, which reflects how well the company’s employees work together.
• The most frequently reported negatively discussed quality was agility, which reflects how quickly BCG employees respond to market changes.

According to Comparably, BCG employees rate BCG’s culture 4.8 out of 5 stars, an A+ rating. Almost every employee (98%) reports looking forward to interacting with their team, and 70% say they’re happy with their work-life balance. Additionally, 94% of employees describe their work environment as positive. 

>>MORE: Learn how to tell if a company values DEI. 

BCG Initiatives 

Scores and rankings aside, the initiatives that companies allocate their time and resources to often reveal their true values and priorities. Here are some examples of BCG’s initiatives:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: BCG aims to play a significant role in addressing racial inequalities and has initiatives to back it up. For instance, through a partnership with Grameen America, BCG has helped low-income Black female entrepreneurs gain access to loans to achieve their business dreams. . 
• Sustainability: By 2030, BCG has committed to hitting net zero climate impact. To advance climate change initiatives, BCG has crafted action plans with its clients to reduce global emissions by one gigaton (that’s equal to the total emissions of both Germany and the United Kingdom). 
• Social Impact: BCG has initiatives in public health, economic development, food security, and sustainability. Some of the company’s research is helping global governments prevent and prepare for future pandemics and promoting regenerative agriculture to improve food system sustainability.

BCG vs. Other Top Companies

Besides BCG and its Big Three rivals, Bain and McKinsey, other firms in the consulting space include accounting and auditing firms like Deloitte that help businesses build plans to achieve complex goals. We’ve compared some of the top consulting firms using overall employee review ratings from Glassdoor, Comparably, and Indeed. 

	Glassdoor	Comparably	Indeed
BCG	4.2 out of 5	4.8 out of 5	4.2 out of 5
Bain	4.4 out of 5	4.7 out of 5	4.3 out of 5
McKinsey	4.2 out of 5	4.3 out of 5	4.2 out of 5
Deloitte	4.0out of 5	4.1 out of 5	3.9 out of 5

How Does the BCG Interview Process Work?

BCG is a highly sought-after workplace, and there’s often a lot of competition for available positions. Wondering how to get into BCG? Fortunately, knowing what the BCG interview process entails can help you prepare.

Interviews at BCG are either skills interviews or problem-solving interviews. The skills interviews are similar to traditional interviews used to assess candidates’ experience and skills. Problem-solving interviews are for client-facing positions and include a case study that tests an applicant’s business knowledge, technical expertise, numerical skills, and communication style. 

BCG provides numerous case interview preparation tips and examples for interviewees, such as:

• Ask questions to make sure you understand the full extent of the problem.
• Don’t stick to pre-made plans or frameworks — thinking outside the box and applying your skills to each case individually is key.
• Speak through your thought process so the interviewer can better understand how you approach problems.
• Base your conclusions on thorough analysis.

>>MORE: Ace your interview by practicing some of the most common interview questions for consultants. 

In addition to problem-solving and analytical skills, BCG is looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following traits:

• Collaborative mindset
• Creative thinking
• Drive
• Integrity
• Intellectual curiosity
• Self-efficacy

According to Glassdoor, 56% of BCG interviewees submitted applications online, 22% applied through campus recruiting, and 10% of applicants went through employee referrals. Regarding the interview experience itself at BCG, 68% of interviewees reported a positive experience, and 12% reported a negative experience. In terms of difficulty, the overall average rating for interviews was 3.6 out of 5 stars (on a scale of 1 to 5, easiest to hardest).

Takeaways

• BCG is a global consulting company focused on helping its clients reach their full potential and advance the world. 
• Potential career paths at BCG include consulting, product management, project management, tech, and digital design.
• The firm values integrity, diversity, and social impact, which can be seen in the company’s initiatives to stop climate change, empower underrepresented communities, and solve some of the world’s most pressing issues.
• BCG ranks comparably to its competitors.
• Most interviews at BCG result from online applications, and the interview process may involve solving a complex case study. 

Ready to explore career path options at other top companies? Check out Forage’s in-depth company guides.

Contributed to by Erica Burns.

Image credit: mariakray / Depositphotos.com