BCG Consulting Career Assessment: Before The Case Interview
- Last Updated September, 2024
The BCG CCA is an online assessment designed to evaluate your potential as a consultant. It consists of high-level behavioral questions and brain teasers focused on logic and pattern recognition.
Did you get an email about taking the BCG Consulting Career Assessment? If so, that’s great news! It means you passed the initial resume screening and could move on to the case interview if you also pass the BCG CCA.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What the BCG Consulting Career Assessment is and where it fits in the overall recruiting process
- Differences with other BCG tests, such as BCG Casey the Chatbot and BCG HireQuotient
- Top 3 tips on how to practice for the BCG Consulting Career Assessment
Let’s get started!
What Can You Expect From The BCG Consulting Career Assessment?
The BCG Consulting Career Assessment (BCG CCA) is a relatively new part of BCG’s recruiting process, currently being rolled out in select U.S. offices. The first step in your application is to submit your resume and cover letter. If you pass that stage, you may get an email to take the BCG CCA.
The BCG Consulting Career Assessment is a standardized evaluation of whether your skills and qualities align with BCG’s requirements and values. The BCG CCA takes approximately 30 to 40 minutes to complete.
Make sure you are prepared with a calculator, pen, and paper. Unlike some other assessments, it does not include a video component.
Once the test is emailed to you, you’ll have 24 hours to complete it. If you have any conflict on your schedule, such as an exam or important personal commitment, contact your recruiter immediately to reschedule.
The BCG Consulting Career Assessment has 3 parts:
1. Instructions
The first part of the test is to review the instructions to ensure you understand the format. The BCG CCA gives you up to 20 minutes for this section.
2. Behavioral Questions
Next is the behavioral section, which evaluates how your personality and values align with what BCG is looking for. You’ll be asked to rank phrases that best describe you; these phrases relate to traits like communication, leadership, empathy, and deadlines.
Another type of behavioral question the test might ask is about how others, such as coworkers or professors, perceive your abilities, such as your capacity to adapt to change or work in a team efficiently. There is no clear right or wrong in these questions, but rather BCG wants to understand your compatibility with their culture.
3. Brain Teasers
The last section is logic and pattern recognition. The BCG CCA gives you 4 practice questions to help you get familiar with the format. Then, you’ll solve about 8 brain teasers within 12 minutes. These brain teasers typically involve pattern recognition and light algebra.
What Happens After the BCG Consulting Career Assessment?
The BCG recruiting process involves multiple stages, with the BCG Consulting Career Assessment playing an important role early on, after the resume stage. If successful in the BCG CCA, you’ll be invited to take another online assessment, such as the BCG Pymetrics Test or BCG HireQuotient. Sometimes, this is also combined with a Behavioral Video Interview.
Successful candidates then proceed to the core interview stage, where you’ll face multiple live case and behavioral interviews with BCG consultants and partners.
If all goes well, you’ll receive a coveted BCG offer and land your dream consulting job!
However, it’s important to note that BCG is experimenting with different assessment formats, and the specific process may vary depending on the office you are applying to. Despite these variations, each assessment is designed to evaluate the same core skills and competencies, ensuring consistency in the selection process across different locations.
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How Does the BCG Consulting Career Assessment Differ from Other BCG Online Tests?
BCG uses different online tests to evaluate you for your consulting skills. Each assessment is different, even if it tests similar skills. Let’s take a look at some of the other assessments BCG uses:
BCG Pymetrics Test
The BCG Pymetrics Test has 12 short mini-games, each lasting 2-3 minutes, designed to assess various skills and traits such as attention, focus, effort, generosity, fairness, learning, decision-making, risk tolerance, and emotional intelligence. Candidates may be asked to complete one or several of these games, which can be done on a smartphone.
Pymetrics uses neuroscience-based games and artificial intelligence to evaluate candidates fairly. The test compares a candidate’s traits to those of high-performing employees at the firm. There are no “wrong” answers, but certain behaviors may align better with specific roles at BCG.
BCG Online Case & BCG HireQuotient
The BCG Online Case is a problem-solving test you take on the computer. You’re given questions based on a case study and information, such as an overview of a client, their business issue, and relevant data (such as revenues, costs, business lines, and market size). Then, you answer multiple-choice questions, which are often quantitative, such as calculating a profit margin.
The test aims to assess key skills including business judgment, logical reasoning, and quantitative aptitude, while also giving candidates a realistic example of the types of problems BCG helps clients solve. Different offices may use slightly varied formats for the online case.
The BCG HireQuotient test is similar to the BCG Online Case as it mirrors real client cases, giving you a practical sense of the challenges consultants face.
3 Tips on Practicing for the BCG CCA
1. Take Practice Tests
The BCG Consulting Career Assessment uses a platform called SHL to run the test. SHL offers many practice tests you can use to get familiar with the interface and questions.
Familiarize yourself with the types of questions in the assessment by taking their practice tests, especially those involving pattern recognition and logic.
The BCG CCA includes time-sensitive sections, so practice answering questions quickly and accurately. Practicing with a timer will help you stay calm and efficient during the BCG CCA.
2. Familiarize Yourself With BCG Values
Since BCG CCA includes behavioral questions, you should familiarize yourself with the BCG culture. At BCG, values are more than just words. They form the foundation of the BCG’s approach to how consultants interact with clients, collaborate with colleagues, and tackle challenges.
BCG consultants consistently prioritize honesty and accountability in all situations. They strive to do what’s right, even when it’s difficult. Diversity is also central to BCG’s ethos, as the firm values different perspectives and experiences, recognizing that diversity fosters innovation and better results. BCG is committed to personal growth and development, ensuring employees have the resources and opportunities to thrive.
To understand more about other BCG Values, check out our article and see what resonates with you.
3. Reflect on Past Experiences
The BCG CCA assessment includes questions about how others perceive your abilities. Prepare by reflecting on your previous experiences and how colleagues, professors, or managers might evaluate your skills in areas such as leadership, adaptability, communication, and teamwork.
How did you handle key challenges? What feedback have you received from colleagues, professors, or managers about your strengths and areas for improvement? For example, if you’ve led a team, consider how you demonstrated leadership and collaboration.
These questions aren’t about hypothetical scenarios; they’re meant to gauge your real-life abilities. This is where reflecting on your past experiences can make a huge difference in how you frame your responses.
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In this article, we’ve covered:
- A summary of the BCG Consulting Career Assessment and its role in BCG recruiting
- Comparison with other BCG assessments, including BCG Casey the Chatbot
- 3 key ways to excel in the BCG Consulting Career Assessment
Still have questions?
If you have more questions about the BCG Consulting Career Assessment, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s recruiters will answer them.
Other people prepping for the BCG CCA found the following pages helpful:
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Get access to Exclusive Free Training on passing consulting case interview.
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Exclusive Free Training on passing consulting case interview.
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