Hi there, 

There are two points to focus on especially as you move from round 1 to 2:

1. Make sure you work on the feedback they provided after the first round. They will pay special attention to that to see whether you are responsive to feedback. 

2. Focus on being top-down, while also connecting with the interviewer. Final round interviewers are Partners and the question they have in their mind throughout the interview is whether they could put you in front of the client in a couple of weeks. So make sure you are concise, insightful and empathetic.

Best,

Cristian 

Hello,

There is no stylistic difference in preferences between the first round and the second round, so if there are things that you feel worked well for you in the first round with Bain, I would just continue to hone in on those for the next round.

I think the biggest difference in McKinsey vs. Bain cases is interviewer-led vs. candidate-led approach (respectively), which naturally imposes a certain structure on the McKinsey cases because you are given the questions. But within these structures, you solve the questions in a similar manner.

Beyond this, there are many different ways of doing cases successfully, and I don't think there are strong idiosyncratic preferences by firm. I would go with the approaches that you are most comfortable with and feel you can perform well with.

Hi there,

Try not to play this game too much :) The more you go in expecting x thing, the more y and z thing will throw you off!

The differences between the two rounds are less than the differences between 2 random interviewers. Build out your objective-driven, structured abilities, clear + concise communication, etc.

In terms of Bain specifically, they are known to do a bit more charts/exhibits (including multiple on one page), market sizing, and to prefer an upfront hypothesis (if the prompt provides that hint). But, in reality, you should ignore everything I just wrote in this paragraph as locking into that is more likely to hurt than help.

There is no difference in criteria between R1 and R2.