Too much applicants for a summer internship at Bain?

Question

Hello,

I applied to Bain Middle East for a Summer Internship and received this automatic email (pre-screening phase):

"Thank you for your interest in our Associate Consultant Intern position; we appreciate you considering Bain & Company and taking the time to apply.

As a firm, we regret to inform you that we are unable to invite you to interview at this time. The volume of applicants has been extremely high, and in order to make the program experience as rewarding as possible, we have to limit the number of position participants at this time."

What does it mean? Is it become I was too late (I applied at the beginning of September) or my resume is not strong enough? Or is it just basically because of the number of applications this year? (I am coming from a top targeted french school, I already have 1,5+ year in strategy consulting with several achievements and i went back to school this year in Master).

Thanks a lot for your help !

Answer 1

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about the rejection from Bain!

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

First of all, and contrary to what other coaches have said, this is a standard rejection phrase with no clear reason given.
Moreover, based on the experience of coachees of mine who have interviewed with Bain in the Middle East this year, I would assume - without having looked at your resume - that your profile was simply not strong enough.
Lastly, if you haven’t already done so, I would highly advise you to apply broadly to increase your chances of getting one or more offers.

You can find more on this topic here: How to deal with a rejection from a consulting company.

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

Best,

Hagen

Answer 2

Hi there,

It means that your resume did not make the cut. Unfortunately, this is the norm this year for many great applicants.

Why?

Generally, much slower demand for new hires in the Middle East compared to the previous years. Firms went through (quiet) lay-offs as well.

At the same time, the Middle East was THE region to go over the last 2-3 years because they accept applicants from all over the world and every firm was growing rapidly, which led to a lot of supply of applicants (and still is with the rest of the world also with slowed recruiting).

What we saw this summer in Middle East recruiting is culmination of both forces at play.

During a normal recruiting year your chances to pass the screening would have definitely been better.

All the best,

Florian

Answer 3

Hi there,

Q: I applied to Bain and received this automatic email. What does it mean?

This seems like a standard rejection email. The number of applicants for MBB is always higher than the number of possible slots, so it might be a polite template for rejection which they use regardless of the rejection reason.

In terms of the specific reason for the rejection in your case, it is not possible to derive it from that email. The most likely reasons are:

Low number of positions available compared to the number of applicants and/or
Application material (CV/Cover/referral) not strong enough

Best,

Francesco