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Bain career as intern vs. associate consultant

Hello,

I have finished my master's degree with internships in the automotive & venture capital industry as well as consulting experience in a big4 company & a small consultancy (but with no direct customer contact).

I also have a sponsor who can recommend me for a Bain & Company interview. However, I am not sure whether I should apply for an associate consultant position or an internship, with a possible easier interview process and hoping to get an full-time offer after the internship.

How big is the difference in difficulty between the interviews for an associate consultant position vs. internship?

Best

_

Edit: I am referring to an Associate Consultant Intern vs. Associate Consultant. These are the only to option after a Master's degree in Germany.

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Top answer
Vlad
Coach
edited on Mar 19, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

How do they exactly call it? Intern or Business Analyst? 

  • Bain hires MBA interns and Graduate Interns in some countries
  • At Bain, they also have a business analyst role in some countries that they propose you as a step before Associate Consultant. Sometimes they call it Intern as well. However, this is not something they have on the official web-site
  • The interview process will be exactly the same
  • If you are not performing well enough for the Associate consultant at the interview (or if they don't have any immediate recruiting needs for associate consultants in your region - something that happens pretty often) they may propose you that intern / BA role

Thus I recommend you to aim higher and see how it goes. Having another offer may help you to negotiate a better role. Also, I know the people who asked for an additional interview to prove that they can perform at the associate consultants level

Best!

on Mar 19, 2018
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