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We have compiled an unparalleled repository of insights about ensuring interview success at McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Company. 

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Category: About McKinsey, BCG, Bain (MBB)
BCG 2025 ≠ BCG 2012
Written by Dr. Sidi S. Koné
BCG in 2025 looks much more like McKinsey in 2012 than BCG in 2012. But why?
BCG 2025 ≠ BCG 2012.
It looks more like McKinsey 2012.

Read that again.

Because if you're serious about breaking into BCG, this insight might change your entire approach.

Back in 2012, I got the offer to join McKinsey.

I had just spent my first years in consulting at BCG.

And I was joining a Firm in hypergrowth mode:
- New global offices
- Entirely new digital units
- Unconventional hiring from tech, startups, industry

McKinsey was no longer “elite strategy only.”
It had become something else:
𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

And now?

That same strategic shift has happened inside BCG.

BCG in 2025 isn’t the BCG most candidates think they’re prepping for.

It’s not the soft-spoken, creative cousin to McKinsey anymore.
It’s not the consensus-driven haven for out-of-the-box thinkers.

It’s aggressively growing its AI, transformation, and delivery muscles.
It’s onboarding non-strategy talent.
It’s hiring like McKinsey used to hire when they were building the machine.

But here’s the problem:

Most candidates are still prepping for the wrong firm.

⚠️ They’re chasing a culture that no longer exists as it used to.
⚠️ They’re expecting gentler interviews, softer edges, more time to think.
⚠️ They’re reading stale advice from people hired under a different model.

They’re showing up with a 2015 playbook…
on a 2025 battlefield.

And then wondering why it doesn’t work.

So here’s the brutal truth:

If you don’t understand the game the firm is playing, you will 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭 what the interview is screening for.

Let me say it differently:

The strategy of the firm informs its 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴.

BCG today isn’t hiring slide-makers.
They’re hiring operators.
People who can lead messy transformations, under pressure, with speed.

This changes:
→ What they value in candidates
→ How Partners challenge you
→ How your stories and frameworks land

And yet?

Most candidates don't realize this.

They burn months memorizing bullet-point buckets.
Perfecting generic fit answers.
And trusting advice from former junior consultants
who were never involved in hiring decisions for their firm.

And they fail.
Not because they aren’t smart.
But because they play by rules that no longer exist.
If you don’t understand the firms’ evolution, you’ll never understand what they’re really looking for.
Inside The MBB Offer Machine™, we do it differently.

We don’t prepare you for the firm as it used to be.
We train you for the firm as it’s becoming.

Because that’s what actually gets OFFERS.
We’ve reverse-engineered how MBB firms are evolving –
and how that changes:
- What you say in the room
- How you’re tested in cases
- What makes a Partner say “yes”

If you don’t understand the firms’ evolution, you’ll never understand what they’re really looking for.

And if you don’t understand that?

You’re not prepping.
You’re guessing.

How we can help you break you into McKinsey, BCG, or Bain

If you, as an applicant at one of the big strategy consulting firms, would like to learn how to ensure success in your interviews with McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, then feel free to apply for a free initial consultation with us. In this free session we will find out whether we can help you, and if so, how we can help you to reach your goal of joining a firm like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain & Company. 

Within the last years, we have helped more than 350 people to receive job offers from the three MBB companies! On average, every single week, two of our clients are signing an employment contract with either McKinsey, BCG, or Bain.

About the author: 
Dr. Sidi S. Koné

Former Senior Engagement Manager and Interviewer at McKinsey & Company | Former Senior Consultant at BCG

About The MBB Offer Machine™

We help aspiring graduates, young professionals, and seasoned topic experts to ensure success in their job interviews with the world's most reputable Strategy Consulting Firms.

We place a special emphasis on "MBB":
  • McKinsey & Company
  • ​Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
  • ​Bain & Company

About the author: 
Dr. Sidi S. Koné

Former Senior Engagement Manager and Interviewer at McKinsey & Company | Former Senior Consultant at BCG

About the author: 
Dr. Sidi S. Koné

Former Senior Engagement Manager and Interviewer at McKinsey & Company | Former Senior Consultant at BCG
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