Anecdote:I met up with a friend recently who is job-hunting in the pharma sector (marketing, sales, etc). He's having trouble finding a job: didn't go to a prestigious Uni, speaks very little English, doesn't have any "stand out from the crowd" experience - just a couple internships, no fascinating extra-curriculars.. just an all-round average Joe.So he tells me: Hey, I got called in to interview the other day with this consulting firm, who found me on a professional networking site, called BCG. Do u know them?ME: It sound like the Boston Consulting Group, but I'm sure they didnt call youHIM: Yeah yeah, that's them (he started telling me where the office is, and other things to confirm it was The BCG)ME: So what was the role? (thinking he was called in for a temp receptionist vacancy or sth)HIM: ConsultantME: Wow! Ok, so was the role in very specific Pharma team?HIM: No, they told me they want all consultants to enter as Generalists (obviously, he didnt know the term generalist, he found a way of explaining it to me in about 100 wordsME: (silence!)... and a baffled look on my face for about 30 secondsAlthough he knows nothing about consulting, as his job search is getting quite desperate, he had gone along anyway, not knowing who they were or what they really do (or no more than he could find out from a 20min scan of their website).His first interview (with a Principal) included phrases like "So why would you like to work for BCG?" ... Answer: "To be honest, I don't really know who you are or what you do".And the best part of all, he was called back for a second interview.He was told that BCG are constantly getting applications from Bus. School grads who spend years preparing themselves for consulting interviews, and they wanted "different" profiles with analytical skills. Fair enough, but BCG really dnt get enough applicants of that nature? Are they really resorting to trawling through Xing, Linkedin, etc. to invite incredibly average candidates to interview?

Whole story sounds fishy to me. BCG doesn't bother trawling social networks, and first interviews certainly aren't with Principals.

Sounded incredibly fishy to me too. But I spoke to my mate again today. He forwarded me the email he was sent by a chick from HR inviting him to interview, and showed me the business cards of the guys who interviewed him.OB, I have no incentive to come on here and make up a story like this.

Sounds extremely unlikely scenario. I've never heard of anything like this.

Unlikely or not (which it obviously is), it is 100% true. As such, anyone else who joins in, stating that it sounds false, is adding nothing to the discussion.He told me he initially accepted to attend the interview thinking it was probably some kind subsidiary of Boston Scientific. Brilliant!

Sounds like the usual trolling. Nuff said.

Fine by me folks! Sorry for trying to share a story with a forum that I thought would be interested in hearing it.

Well, you did ask: "Are they really resorting to trawling through Xing, Linkedin, etc. to invite incredibly average candidates to interview?"Short answer from the forum: No, they aren't

Baffled, so which country in Southern Europe did this happen in? Why don't you share the email that "the HR chick" sent to your friend?

I believe this story.I havent worked directly wtih BCG and have very little experience of them. But i know that there is always a new recruiter on the block trying to make a name for themselves, cutting out recruiters, being 'innovative'.If I had a pound for every one of these flash in the pan initiatives I have seen, I would bworth about fifty quid.Oh dear.

I don't want to share any precise details of this story because I dont know who reads these threads. As soon as I mention the office, this story could potentially be traced back to my friend, if anyone, for whatever strange reason, wished to do so. And I don't want my sharing of some insignificant anecdote to potentially fall back on him in any way. He doesn't even know about this forum.What would my sharing the email sent to him or the country in question add to the discussion anyway? If I were trolling I could easily just make one up.This was obviously a flash in the pan type thing. The subject of my thread was more provocative than anything. I've sent my CV to BCG twice in recent yrs, and never even got as far as the front door. For that reason I was all the more taken aback when he told me.