BCG Seeks Applicants For Springboard Pre-MBA Summer Program

Boston Consulting Group is looking for applicants for a fourth summer experience it hosts to engage prospective MBA recruits. The BCG Unlock program is a series of virtual events exposing students to consulting and the type of work done at BCG, the second-highest ranked consulting firm in this year’s Vault Consulting 50.

The program also gives recruiters an early peek at incoming talent.

The material is aimed at the level for students entering into their first year of an MBA program next fall. It’s free to enter, but only available to students attending one of 41 business schools, among them all of the M7 schools and several elite European schools. This year, BCG added Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and SDA Bocconi School of Management to its recruiting list of nearly 40 schools.

‘REALLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE JOB UNLESS YOU’VE WORKED AT IT’

The program includes insight into BCG projects, different networks the firm has available, training resources, and some consulting development facts or current trends happening in the industry. Justin Rodriguez, a managing director at the Boston office, says the experience is for pre-MBAs to pinpoint what consulting is really about.

“It’s actually really hard to understand the job unless you’ve worked at it previously, but it’s such a buzzword for so many people, and, of course, a really big objective for going to business school,” he says.

Debbie Fredberg, one of the head recruiters, says the format is tailored to be extremely flexible, while there are virtual live-sessions students may attend to ask questions, material will also be pre-recorded and posted online. The applications are due April 30.

For a third summer, the firm is hosting in tandem BCG Empower, an exclusive, invite-only workshop for select pre-MBAs who identify as Black, Latino/Latina, Native American, Alaska Native or Indigenous. The program stems over three days, aiming to provide a hands-on experience through small group sessions, case prep and social events for students to build a network of internal connections at BCG.

UNLOCK CONTENT REFRESHED EVERY YEAR

This year, Unlock participants will hear about at least one BCG project on climate and sustainability efforts and likely another on private equity. Over the last year, Rodriguez noted there’s been tons of discussion around supply chain resilience and on topics around ChatGPT and generative AI.

“We try to highlight work that our consultants are doing, and we try to make it something that’s topical; or something that students are really interested in,” Fredberg added.

Sometimes, incoming MBAs have misconceptions about consulting, both from viewpoints pertaining to aspects of the day-to-day job to the initial recruiting experiences. Rodriguez says people tend to think consultants work around the clock, clocking 100 hours a week, but he says that’s not the case nor does it fit their business model. In fact, in the long-term, he says there’s plenty of opportunity for ample vacation time.

The goal of the program is providing enough insight for students to break some of those perceptive barriers, but also for BCG it’s an opportunity to engage and connect with new talent.

“It’s only in its fourth year, but I feel like we learned so much here every year and every year the candidate experience gets better,” Rodriguez says.

In prospective hires, Fredberg says they are looking for someone who wants to solve problems, Rodriguez adds the perfect BCG consultant would be someone with intellectual curiosity, humility, and good teamwork skills.

BCG’S HIRING OUTLOOK

Upon receiving a consulting job offer, some MBA students this spring have reported that they received a delayed start date. BCG tells Poets&Quants they are unable to disclose specific hiring targets for 2023, but mentioned they were in a “growth mindset in the North America region this year.”

Typically, the firm begins its recruiting sometime in the fall to attract second-years for a full-time position, and to attract summer interns for MBAs between their first and second years.

“Our number one priority always continues to be to get the best and brightest to help our clients solve the hardest problems … and we’re really eager and excited to have folks coming from the tech world apply,” Rodriguez says.

DON’T MISS: TECH LAYOFFS CONTINUE TO MOUNT, AND B-SCHOOLS ARE STANDING BY TO HELP AND ANALYSIS: MBA PAY HAS VASTLY OUTPACED INFLATION.