Bain 2nd Round - Middle East

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress thus far with your application at Bain!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, and contrary to other coaches, I would highly advise you to prepare for personal fit questions in the second interview round. Unfortunately, it is true that Bain in the Middle East is deviating from the global guidelines a bit by not emphasizing personal fit in the first interview round. However, this will certainly be the case in the second interview round.
• Regarding focus, of course, they do have a focus, yet this does not necessarily mean that the case study provided will be from that sector. While it is mostly the case with (senior) partners and associate partners, I would highly advise you not to limit your preparation to those sectors.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for the second interview round with Bain, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

I'd always recommend prepping FIT - partners especially can be really interested in the FIT rather than the case. 

Hi there,

1) I have my second round interviews with Bain next week and I just learned all 3 interviews are cases. Should I prep for fit? 

Yes, I would recommend to review fit questions as well for the following reasons:

1. They might still ask for fit even if they said it will be cases only (something similar happened to my candidates in the past)
2. You should have already prepared for fit anyway for your first round, so that should not take long

2) Also do partners and managers focus more on the sectors they worked on most?

You might get cases related to the sector of the interviewer, although there is no guarantee.

If you need help please feel free to reach out, I helped many candidates for Bain Dubai and know 20+ questions asked there.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi,

I would advise you to show up prepped for fit questions as well. Ultimately, every interviewer will ask him/herself the question, whether he would love to have the interviewees on his/her team on a live case. I.e., it is just natural to ask at least a few fit questions. 

The type of case an interviewer picks is mostly up to him/her. As a rule of thumb, more senior interviewers who tend to be more specialized, tend to pick cases from their industries/functions. Often it is based a real live case they advised a client on, simplified & contextualized for a interview setting.

I hope this helps!

Andreas

Hi there,

Personally, I would still make sure I'm ready for fit.

Remember, this is all a time balancing act. So, you need to prioritize. Make sure you're ready for fit (3 whys and your stories), but also don't overindex on it to the detriment of your cases.

Importantly, even though they said 3 cases, there could still be fit! Remember, there Partners are going to do whateve they want in the interview itself (I've had candidates where the partner just turns the whole interview into fit). Just be ready for anything!

Hi there, 

Congrats on reaching the 2nd round!

Have you confirmed with the recruiters that all the interviews in the next round are case only? If yes, then you don't need to practice fit indeed. 

Regarding your second question, don't assume that consultants focusing on a specific sector will provide the case from that same area. More often than not they see the interview as an opportunity to get some space from their usual work. 

Best,
Cristian