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Boston Consulting Group

Engaged employer

Great Stepping Stone - Research Associate Boston Consulting Group Employee Review

3.0
11 Dec 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits outside of salary - health insurance in particular. Getting BCG on the resume opened a lot of doors. BCG Navigator offered a breadth of information at fingertips. Work-life balance as the job is not overly complicated and the work hours are meant to be 8am to 5pm exactly.

Cons

- Business model for DRS is at odds with business model for the org as a whole, meaning there is a conflict of interest between succeeding in the role and progressing your personal development and career. - Work is transactional by nature, meaning that unless you are resourceful and step outside of what management wants you to do, you will not get any exposure to meaningful BCG casework. - The job becomes managing cheaper outsourced research firms to increase the profitability of the DRS department. Basically, you get good at creating and managing 6 research requests that you don't do yourself, but merely send off to case teams after you "QA" them. - Moving over to the consulting side is not possible from DRS, or from the Knowledge Team for that matter. - DRS was managed and run like a call center. Butt in seat at 8am, punch out at 5pm. Not recommended for those who value autonomy and don't like to be managed via hours.

Explore other reviews about Boston Consulting Group

5.0
24 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

So much learning and great culture

Cons

Decently long hours, lots of travel

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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