Bain interview

Hi Mehrasa,

Brain teasers in the sense of what you see at investment banking interviews are extremely rare at Bain unless you include market sizing within the category of "brain teasers". But as other experts have indicated you should be prepared for anything and get used to answering questions under pressure from the interviewer.

Depending on your background you could get a question such as "pitch me a company you like" just to see how you handle some pressure.

Best,

A

Hey there,

From my experience, there are no brainteasers in the traditional sense (e.g., how many golf balls fit on a 747). There could be brainteaser-like questions set in a business context (e.g., You have to pay out salaries of 5k USD, John receives 2.5x the amount of Bill, Lukas gets half of Bill, ... How much does John receive?).

Even the latter is rather unlikely though.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi Mehrasa,

It depends on the definition of brain teaser.

Market sizing questions are still common at Bain. You may mean something like this though, more standard in IB:

You’ve got someone working for you for seven days and a gold bar to pay him. The gold bar is segmented into seven connected pieces. You must give them a piece of gold at the end of every day. What and where are the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will allow you to pay him 1/7th each day?

I have a list of 90+ real questions asked at Bain in Europe and never heard something similar.

Still, there may be regional differences according to the office. If you need help for a specific office please feel free to PM me.

Best,

Francesco

Hi Mehrasa!

My advice as a coach is to always be prepared for anything.

So, while brainteasers aren't particularly common, you shouldn't not expect them!

For example, some classics I've heard of are "Explain x [complicated topic] to my 7 year old daughter" and "How many golf balls could fill this room"

Learn to be adaptable and react to any scenario/question (which you should be doing as part of case + fit preparation) and you'll be able to handle these types of questions just fine :)

Hello Mehrasa,

In terms of cases I would discard it, particularly if you think of the classical brain teasers you would find in Investment Banking or similars.

However, in the FIT part, Bain is know for their "Stress questions". If you want to learn more in depth, have a look at the the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB", that has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 3 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

• Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200
• Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201
• Behavioural questions (ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE) >https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/behavioral-questions-entrepreneurial-drive-fit-interview-preparation-211

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch!

Hi Mehrasa,

IMO, brainteasers are not often asked during the interviews. However, they are good training and they help to broaden your perspective and to train you out-of-the-box-thinking!

Cheers,

GB