Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stands among the world’s leading consulting firms. Like other top-tier industry leaders, such as Booz, Bain, McKinsey and At Kearney, BCG consistently attracts the most talented potential recruits every year. Founded in the 1960s by a former bible salesman with a Harvard business degree, BCG is a prestigious and competitive place to get your start in management consulting.

Just shy of his Harvard graduation, he departed and went to work for Westinghouse, becoming one of that company’s youngest-ever vice presidents. Despite the company earning just $500 in its first month, Henderson pressed on. A culture of drive, passion and innovation continue to press BCG forward in its vision.

If you have graduated from a top-30 university, you will gain easier access to Boston Consulting Group recruiters. Students who did not attend the big-name schools are not entirely counted out of consideration. BCG is currently formulating new recruiting strategies to target schools outside of the top 30. They also prefer to target the top schools in the cities where they have offices, such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.

BCG states that on-campus undergraduate recruitment takes place in January. They recruit juniors only and do not have an internship program for sophomores. The recruiters go on campus and conduct information sessions, interview interested students, and make offers. An internship is a huge foot in the door with BCG. They offer full-time positions to approximately 90% of their interns.

BCG does not hire only undergraduate business majors or MBAs. What they do look for is academic excellence. Exceptionally high grade points averages and high test scores are favored when students are being evaluated for permanent consulting positions. Demonstrated evidence of leadership and involvement are also considered. Weakness in any one of those areas will most likely knock you out of contention.

Like other top management consulting firms, you want to hone your case study interview skills. Every interview at BCG is case-based. That means you will want to purchase case study guides and practice.

BCG highly values the talents of individuals rather than the focus of their degree. New management consulting analysts are hired as generalists then move on to specialty areas later in their careers.

The firm looks for people who can demonstrate a natural curiosity for learning and problem solving, leadership, and creativity. Results are highly valued. The firm wants to see tangible results, and how you have made an impact with the causes and projects you have championed. To get a job at BCG, be prepared to show how you meet all of these qualities through tangible results.

BCG is typically ranked as one of the best places to work. Their consultants work very hard, but the company prides itself with allowing their management consulting associates to have a life outside of work. Associates work 50-60 hours per week on average with times where the hours will be more. The job is never going to be a standard 9 to 5 position, but no management consulting job is. The recruiters compare the schedule to that of a college schedule because a lot of time is spent preparing for big presentations. The company also does not like to hire people who are going to breed competition within the firm. They want their people to be competitive – just not with each other.

BCG recruiters emphasize the importance of strong listening and comprehension skills, citing the frequent candidate mistake of not listening carefully during case study interview questions, leading to misunderstandings and wrong conclusions. They advise candidates to listen closely to the question all the way through and not make assumptions, and if they have questions – they should ask. People who enjoy cases typically do a good job. In other words, learn to love case study interview questions and you will increase your odds of landing your dream management consulting job at BCG.