Bain Experienced Hire Presentation

Question

I'm interviewing as an experienced hire for Bain, entering at the consultant level. I'm required to give a presentation, and the objective is to give insight into my experience by showcasing a project I've done. The focus is on: the challenge, approach, recommendations, and results.

The interviews will also be observing my communication and presentation style. Post-presentation questions may be about difficult team situations, management of multiple stakeholders, my analysis, and how I came to my recommendations.

I haven't heard about this aspect of the interview process very much, so I'm wondering if anyone has any kind of insight or advice about it. What are the interviewers looking for? What are some common mistakes to avoid? If I have 45 mins for the presentation and Q&A, how long should the presentation be? How casual (humorous) can I be? I would appreciate any tips!

I will be presenting on a game-like program I oversaw, in which I worked with my company to implement many interventions that resulted in us doing well in the program, avoiding a multi-million dollar loss, and potentially winning a multi-million dollar reward.

Answer 1

Hi June,
you are going to simulate the final Steering Committee, i.e. the most important moment in a real Bain project.
Different skills will be assessed: 80-20 prioritization, top-down structuring, and impactful communication. I recommend staying in 15 minutes with the presentation (10-15 slides), to leave 30 minutes of Q&A, by structuring the document in this way:
- Executive summary (1 page): sum-up of the problem and of your resolution;
- Context (1-3p): presentation of the main challenges of the company and the problem you were in charge to address;
- Recommendations (5-12p): structured presentation of your approach, findings, and solutions to the problem;
- Next steps (1p): additional aspects valuable to be further assessed.

For any further details feel free to text me.

Best,
Antonello

Answer 2

Hello!

I would prepare max 10 high level slides, since you only have 45 mins with Q&A, so if you prep in more detail you won´t have the opportunity to show it -and you would have lost precious time-.

I would structure the presentation in a very top-down way: starting with the results and why they are relevant/outstanding and then explaining the intrinsics.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Clara