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Boston Consulting Group

Engaged employer

Ultimately, not worth the pain - Senior Consultant Boston Consulting Group Employee Review

3.0
9 Sept 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Brilliant, hard-working and intellectually honest peers, who will form a life-long network.

Cons

Terrible working hours (I was a consultant there for over 4 years and averaged 85 hours per week with many, many memorable 100+ weeks) Over the course of my tenure, I saw how the grueling hours and stress led to physical and psychological degradation of great people. One of my colleagues would suffer seizures because the medication he normally took for a chronic condition made him drowsy, and he couldn't afford that additional drowsiness when already sleep-deprived on our projects. Another colleague developed a stress-related condition so severe it was mis-diagnosed as breast cancer during the few medical visits she was able to make without repercussions from management. When a manager of mine who was pregnant in her first trimester would leave the boardroom due to morning sickness, (ie. go throw up) our higher-up manager claimed it was "unacceptable for her to just leave the room": he also claimed she should be grateful BCG made arrangements for her to work there while pregnant, since "women getting pregnant was their own choice" (and not, say, a fairly important biological imperative of your species). That BCG institutes a metric system to track work/life balance is indicative of how much of your life will be under its control when you work there: all of it! These are insane costs to pay for prestige and learning.

Explore other reviews about Boston Consulting Group

5.0
7 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great learning opportunities in different industries

Cons

Really hard job most of the time.

2.0
14 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

BCG has top tier benefits, really smart colleagues, good in-office perks, and has a great company reputation. This was a huge part of my experience and has made me go back forth about my decision to leave.

Cons

This is speaking as someone who is not on the consulting side. On my particular team, office politics were very strong with little to no opportunities for people outside of the inner circle to assimilate. More broadly, I feel like the salary trajectory was a little slow, there is a lack of location mobility and and promotions can be hard to come by. Even so, I have personally seen exceptions be made for certain people. More broadly, being located in North America can be difficult since new roles are being open in other regions which is making internal mobility next to impossible. If you have any dissatisfaction with your current team, title, or level - there's a real possibility that you will have to wait multiple years before being able to make meaningful shifts towards your long term career goals.

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