HireViu Bain and Co.

Hey there,

I have written a longer article on this, which I am not allowed to link here. Hence, I copy and paste some information from that article.

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Bain has a pool of questions. 3 will be randomly selected for your interview. Below are a few standard questions you should definitely think about and prepare an answer for.

• Guide me through your resume (Variations: Tell me about yourself. What characteristics do you have that will make you successful in consulting?)
• Why do you want to go into consulting (Variation: Why do you want to work for Bain)?
• Tell me about a personal or professional failure of yours (Variation: How did you cope with an error or failure?)
• What is your opinion on the current economy (Variation: What are the key economic challenges of our times)?
• Tell me about a time you lead a team (Variations: What constitutes a good team? How do you delegate tasks? Do you work rather alone or in a team setting?)
• Tell me about a time you faced a challenging situation or achieved a challenging goal? (Variation: when did you overcome an obstacle?)
• Tell me about a time when you persuaded someone (Variation: did you ever have to convince someone?)
• …

How can you prepare for such questions?

Use the SCORE framework, which I created and detailed here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-pei

Let’s use a very common question as an example:

Why do you want to work in consulting?

Situation: I want to work in consulting for 5 reasons. First, I enjoy working on challenging topics. Second, the impact I can have in a top-tier consulting firm is already very high early in my career. Third, I want to work with driven and smart colleagues on a global scale. Fourth, it is important for me to have a clear career trajectory and a steep learning curve. Fifth, to be fully transparent, I would enjoy the benefits and perks of the consulting life as well as the exit opportunities.

Complication: I did many internships in corporates and startups and found that the motivation, learning curve, and everything I expected from a work environment was not there. It was just not as stimulating as I would have hoped

Expected outcome: Hence, I knew that I wanted something bigger in my career. Staying in such positions would not have fulfilled me in the long run.

Remedial action: As a result, I started talking to peers who went into consulting, reading up on research published by consulting firms, joined my local consulting club at university, and participated in several pro-bono projects for clients in the public sector.

End result: Based on what I learned and the experiences I made my wish to get into a top-tier consulting firm has only become stronger and that is why I am here today.

Get used to preparing every personal fit and behavioral question with the SCORE framework for maximum clarity and impact of your answers.

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Of course, all the other things for an online test apply as well such as

• making sure your connection works
• making sure you have 30 minutes of peace and quiet when doing the interview
• …

To read more, just Google Bain HireVue.

All the best!

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

Honestly, all of these online tests are very similar

Format? Somewhat different. Content and what's required from you ability-wise? Essentially the same.

The best way is to really find online tests / questions and practice. Regardless as to whether is a new or old test, the principles are mostly the same:

• Time management (need to think quick)
• Business knowledge/context (incl key formulas)
• Critical thinking (answers that are very similar to each other...clues "hidden" in the text)
• Ability to interpret data/charts

Think of it as a merge of a case and the GMAT/GRE.

You need to be clear on some key case-related and account formulas (margin, growth, breakeven, etc) as well as be good at critically understanding the question (including nuance to questions) and parsing through complicated text with a fair amount of distraction.

You'll also need to be good at chart/graph reading.

The (old) McKinsey PST, BCG Online Test, Bain SOVA test, etc. are all quite similar so leverage resources across all of them.

Hi there!

I see you already received a few great answers. 

Adding one point - no, receiving the screening test does not by default mean that you passed to the next stage. Some firms and offices use it as part of the screening phase, basically judging your overall application and test results together and then deciding whether to invite you to the first round of interviews. 

Best,
Cristian