Bain Experienced Hiring - London

Ex-Bain London here so a few quick thoughts:

Bain interviewers tend to be pragmatic — they care more about whether you can solve the problem quickly and with data, not whether your framework is exhaustive. Thoroughness takes a back seat to 80/20 logic and clear business intuition. If you're spending 5+ minutes building a masterpiece framework, you're already losing steam (pro tip: do it <1 min and work with the interviewer to build it).

Bain London fit interviews are scenario-based (from my experience 2 years ago), and honestly feel like mini behavioral cases. Expect common suspects: handling conflict, ethically murky situations, managing up/down, etc. Your answers should follow case-style structure (situation → challenge → actions → results), but with a more human, reflective, and arguably more empathetic (this is a Bain thing) tone.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation from Bain!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, the ones I like are: Columbia, Darden, Esade, Fuqua, Kellog, LBS, McCombs, Michigan, Ross, Sloan, and especially Yale.
• Moreover, contrary to what other coaches have said, considering that Bain case studies are some of the longest in the consulting industry, interviewers will certainly require exhaustive initial structures and thorough answers on your part. Other than that, however, there really is no specific "style" that you need to prepare for, especially not for a specific office.
• Lastly, please keep in mind that Bain London does not seem to comply with global recruiting guidelines, so the sequencing seems to be slightly different. Your recruiter will inform you in all detail.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming Bain case study and behavioral interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

hey there :)

For Bain London, you can prep with the usual MBA casebooks (Wharton, INSEAD, Kellogg) plus PrepLounge and Victor Cheng for structure. Bain cases tend to be practical and conversational, with a lot of data to crunch and a push on prioritization, they want to see you drive the case, not just follow a script.

On the fit side, Bain goes deeper than just “why consulting/why Bain.” They’ll probe on leadership, teamwork, conflict, and impact stories, often drilling down with several follow-up questions to test consistency. Be ready with 2–3 strong examples you can flex across themes.

best, Alessa :)

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of decent case books out there. Most were written by people who never hired anyone... and the suggested answers are usually not of high quality. (note: please steer away from the framework mindset).

They will ask you a few deep questions. I.e., ask you examples and spend 3-4 minutes discussing them.