CQ_Consultalks | Pranjali Rastogi | BCG
Placements 2021
Interviewer: Hi everyone, we have Pranjali Rastogi with us today who recently got placed at BCG. So Pranjali, I would be asking you a couple of questions regarding the strategies to crack the interviews of consulting companies.
What was the general interview process for the companies you interviewed? Also, please mention the number of rounds and the nature of the interview process.
Pranjali: I gave my interview at BCG. The companies for the general selection process give around five days for the cv submission and the results are out within 2–3 days. We are then assigned buddies for the further process. At BCG, the buddy round is evaluated but it’s not the same for other consult companies, I guess. So, I had three buddy rounds and we had another shortlisting after that. Then finally we had interviews with the management and commitment partners. One with the management, they generally take 2–3 interviews. I had three. And two partners for me. So, in total, I had 5 interview rounds.
Interviewer: Moving ahead, Could you please list down the questions you were asked in the different rounds? Like the Cases, HR Discussions, or puzzles in general that you think will prove to be helpful for students.
Pranjali: So most of the cases they asked were unconventional probability guesses and a few guesstimates. We did not have an HR round as such but in the discussion only we had certain questions to understand our opinion on the company, and questions, like why do we want to join the company. So the basic HR questions were covered here. And rest, we had other case interviews.
Interviewer: What are some of the FAQs in most companies that you faced and think students must definitely prepare for? More specifically, in the context of HR rounds.
Pranjali: So, there are 3 basic HR rounds I think everyone should be prepared for while appearing for interviews of any company. First, why that profile, second, why that company, and lastly why you? So I think if someone is clear about these three points, they can answer most of the questions in HR rounds revolving around them. Other than this they’ll surely ask you to introduce yourself. So you should be prepared with an interesting or let’s say a believable story that you can mention in order to impress the interviewers. So this is one thing I believe everyone should be adding along with their CVs. Other companies do have an HR round specifically, BCG didn’t.
Interviewer: What do you think are things students sitting for placements next year can do from now until December to maximize their chances of getting through a company in consulting?
Pranjali: So, consulting preparation is not a very long one. But you need to have a very strong CV that makes you stand out from everyone else. For this people can take up different projects. Overall, you can make their CV look above average. But I feel you should get involved in other activities, it may be sports or exploring other fields and not directly start with preparation. But consulting preparation, most of the people start in summer vacations. So there is nothing as such to be prepared beforehand.
Interviewer: Please tell us how your preparation for Case rounds evolve once you were shortlisted? Also, please let us know about the resources you used as well.
Pranjali: Okay so after I was shortlisted, I tried to do as many quality cases as I could. I tried to find batchmates I’ve never done cases with and some seniors. So, the more variety of inputs I get, it’s beneficial for me. I then started evaluating the cases more than I used to before, taking inputs from others and working on them. I tried to clear all my problems before I started working on a new case. Talking about resources, I used CIC(Case Interviews Cracked) and Day1. These two books are enough for everyone to clear level1 and level2. That is fine I guess. But one thing everyone should keep in mind is, never try to read cases. Always try finding someone, it could be anyone your friends, seniors, siblings, anyone who can read out the question for you and you try to work on it. That does not happen when you are reading out a book or some preparatory material. So, always try working in groups.
Interviewer: So, now we have almost come to the end of the interview. Anything else that you’d want to share with the students?
Pranjali: So as we have talked about the preparation part, there is no preparation required as of now. But I will say people should explore other fields as well. Only when you are sure that you want to go for a particular profile you should start preparing for it. But there are a lot more fields you can explore like finance, analytics, coding. If you keep exploring different fields you’ll surely come up with something you want to pursue and then you can start with serious preparation. Right now, the focus should be on exploration and not on preparation particularly.
As for second years, there are no specific fundae for placements. Right now, you should explore more and then decide what you want to work on.
