BCG Pymetrics Test: Full Guide and Test Simulation 2024

After submitting the online application, the first step in the consultant application process is the Pymetrics exam. During this session, you will have to play 12 games, each lasting 2-3 minutes, totaling around 30 minutes.

Note: You have 48 hours to complete the BCG Pymetrics games once you receive the email invitation.

You move on to the first round of interviews if your compatibility is found to be high enough.

These neuroscience games assess candidates' personalities using a series of 91 social, cognitive, and behavioral traits. You are then matched with top-performing consultants who are already working at BCG. Unlike traditional psychometric tests, which rely on standard question-and-answer formats, Pymetrics uses engaging games to measure these traits.Out of the vast number of traits, here are a few that stand out:

• Attention — Correctly managing information and dealing with distractions is vital when working in a dynamic and quick-paced work environment such as BCG. You will face a large volume of tasks at changing urgencies that will need your attention and are expected to keep up.
• Decision Making — Your approach to making decisions, the time you take to plan ahead, and how long until you make your first move change between individuals and have a great impact on your work strategy. As BCG is interested in having a strategic perspective, they will put great emphasis on your abilities in this field.
• Effort — Not all tasks are equally created when it comes to rewards and probability for success. BCG looks for team players who stay motivated and put in the work, regardless of the potential outcome.
• Emotional Intelligence — Working as part of a team and with customers demands paying attention to the subtle forces of emotion while remaining aware of one's own emotional situations. Such skill helps foster professional and humane communication and overall satisfaction and efficiency.
• Focus — Can you remain focused on a single task, or are you adept at multitasking? BCG looks for different traits for different positions.
• Generosity — Different work scenarios demand changing prioritization of resource allocations. The test will measure your cautiousness when sharing and investing your resources.
• Learning — A dynamic work area such as BCG demands constant learning and changing behavior accordingly. There may appear new information that affects your current task or laws that change the overall workflow, requiring you to adapt.
• Risk Tolerance — Are you comfortable taking risks? Or are you more cautious? Different roles demand different tendencies toward risk-taking, depending on what's at stake.

Before we move on to several of the 12 BCG Pymetrics games, here's what BCG assesses with these games:

• how well do you do in problem-solving?
• your methods for strategizing.
• whether you are averse to risks.
• basically how well you fit their culture.

Take a look at the BCG core values to get a sense of what kind of employees they are looking for:

• Integrity
• Respect for the Individual
• Diversity
• Clients come first
• The strategic perspective
• Value delivered
• Partnership and collaboration
• Expanding the art of the possible
• Social impact

If you read between the lines, you can understand they are looking for team players who plan their strategy before doing something, approach a problem creatively, and always seek to add value to their clients. Be sure to carry these values with you as you approach the games. While these values can be discerned in some of the BCG Pymetrics games, they are hidden in others.

For example, in the upcoming Tower Game, your Strategic perspective is being measured. Your ability to build a strategy is compared to that of other candidates and is taken into account when making a decision.

In the BCG Pymetrics tower game, you are presented with three towers of disks in different colors and an image of the target, which is how the disks are supposed to be arranged. Your job is to rearrange them so they fit the target. The only rule is that you can move one disk at a time and only one of the top disks.

There are numerous ways to approach this problem. The AI algorithm looks at how each candidate makes a decision—how long it takes them to strategize their moves, what path they choose to take, how many moves they make in total, and how many times they have gone back and forth with the same moves.

To evaluate the candidate, the algorithm compares each performance to the benchmark set by BCG's top performers and ranks each candidate in relation to other candidates. Every move counts, and every second is taken into account.

Solving Tip: As every move you make and the time between each move is being measured, start by taking a few seconds to assess the situation and mentally plan your strategy. This shows your ability to plan and strategize.

Let's look at one of the most familiar and challenging of the Pymetrics Games:

The Balloon game measures central traits looked for by BCG recruiters; among them are pattern recognition,  impulsivity and decision-making. The game consists of 39 rounds, and your task is to pump balloons and gain credits in the process. All the credits you manage to bank before the balloon explodes are yours. Sound easy enough, right? Well, no.

Each of the 3 balloon types has a unique probability of exploding. First, you need to understand how quickly each type of balloon explodes, and then you can consider whether each additional pump is worth the risk. Every explosion is a chance to learn more about the patterns and how to make a better decision in the next balloon.

Solving tip: Start the game by checking how fast each balloon color explodes in its first 1-2 rounds and base your future actions on this probability.

Let’s take a look at a “simple” game from the test. It is so simple that it seems stupid to many candidates, but that’s just because they don’t understand it well enough.

The BCG Pymetrics Keypress game can be explained in a sentence:
When you see the GO! message, press the spacebar repeatedly as quickly as possible until you are told to stop.

That’s it. Or is it?

In our BCG Pymetrics practice pack, you will have the chance to play for yourself. After you finish, you will get a personalized report, detailing the parameters that are being measured in this game.

In this game, for example, you are measured by how many times you pressed the spacebar before or after you were told to stop. Pressing the spacebar before and after you were told to do so implies that you are impulsive and that your process time is slow. Practicing process time and impulsivity avoidance is important if you wish to present the image of a good applicant.

Solving tip: High focus and regulating impulsivity are key here. Wait for the right moment and don't start before you see the screen change.

You can try practicing this game with a timer, but we recommend using software that will give you the proper metrics to track your progression. Our preparation pack will let you practice as much as you need with a metrics report each time.

What does the BCG Pymetrics Test actually look like?

The Money Exchange 1 relates to the value of Partnership and Collaboration by measuring trust.
The game is played once and goes as follows:

You are randomly paired with another participant, given $10 and the option to transfer any amount of the money to your partner.
The amount transferred will triple, and your partner will have the choice to transfer any amount of his money back to you.
You are asked to rate how fair your partner was in his transaction on a scale of 1 to 10.

Solving Tip: As work in BCG will require high collaboration and teamwork, you should present a caring and trusting attitude by giving more of your money to your partner. Having said that, make sure to do so in good taste and not going to the extreme.

The BCG Pymetrics Arrow Game relates to the value of Expanding the art of the possible by measuring your learning, attention, and adaptability traits.

In this BCG Pymetrics game, different sets of flashing arrows will appear on your screen. Your response to each set should follow the following two rules:

Blue or black arrows will require you to indicate the direction of the middle arrow.
Red arrows will require you to indicate the direction of the side arrows.

Solving tip: To minimize eye movement and cognitive resources, remain focused on the middle arrow and the one beside it. These will give you all the information you need to choose.

This game includes images of people demonstrating different emotional expressions, some with additional text describing a situation. Your task is to choose the word best describing the person's expression.
You will have 7 seconds for expressions only and 30 seconds for expressions with text. 

The Face Game measures emotional intelligence, one of the most appreciated traits in today's workspace. Accordingly, this game relates to the values of Diversity, Respect for the Individual, and Partnership.

Solving tip: While the expression in the image may seem clear to you, you must consider the text as well. The context in which it was made can help dramatically when differentiating similar emotional expressions and shows your ability to understand people's emotional positions. 

Can I improve my emotional intelligence?

We have discussed 6 of the games you will face in the BCG Pymetrics Test. You can find a guide and tips about the rest of the games on our Pymetrics Game page and start your practice for all 12 mini-games. Our Pymetrics PrepPack is deeply researched and constantly updated, giving you the best online preparation for all Pymetrics games. 

Once you complete the assessment, it is submitted to BCG along with your online application.

BCG declared that no one will be disqualified solely based on their Pymetrics performance, but we know of many candidates that were not passed along after the games.

If you manage to hit the benchmark, then you start a few rounds of interviews. Each round includes two different types of interviews:

• Case study – in this type of interview, you will be presented with a real problem the BCG consultancy team is working on, and you will have to analyze it and explain how you would approach it. Expect to work through several case studies, a few in each round.
  
  To read more about the case interviews, check out the BCG website, where they offer preparation material.
  
  
• Fit – these are more behavioral interviews in nature that are used to determine your fit as a person to the firm. Candidates tend to put most of their effort in the case studies and overlook the fit interviews. In reality, both carry the same weight in your application process, so don’t neglect it.

After a few rounds of these two types of interviews conducted by different levels of BCG personnel, you will hopefully get an offer.

In our Pymetrics Games preparation pack, you will learn how each game influences your score on each personality trait. Without proper practice and an understanding of how each game works, your chances of passing the test are quite slim.

Take a look at the BCG FAQs to better understand how they perceive it.

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