Bain First Round Interview

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the interview progress thus far with Bain!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• Given it is only Wednesday, I would advise you to wait until the end of the week for a follow-up call. Please remember that the interviewers need to coordinate with the recruiter to discuss your performance, which may happen immediately or may take a few days.
• To pass the interview round, you need to excel in both the functional aspect (i.e., the case study) and the personal aspect (i.e., the personal fit interview). Although it is possible to compensate for a weaker performance in one area with an extremely strong performance in the other, such situations are rare.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for the partner interview round with Bain, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Q: As experts do you think the fit interview going very WELL could push my chances to get to round 2? 

In order to move to the next round, you need to pass both the fit and case parts. If you didn’t do well in the case, the fit part won’t be able to compensate for it.

On the other hand, candidates often have a biased view of their performance, so even if you think you didn’t do well in the case, your performance might have actually been fine.

If you have not heard back after one week, it is totally fine to follow up with HR.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

We're not going to be able to ease your anxiety. Sorry. Such is life!

You need to do well in the case and the fit. Sure, there's a “balance” between the two. We don't know what your outcome will be, nor will you ever be able to predict it!

Please focus on what you can control: network and apply to other firms, and fix whatever case mistakes you made.

Here's some reading to help with that.

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Hi there,

Hard to tell from the outside.

• One week to hear back is neutral. You cannot read anything into this.
• A strong fit interview is important but does not balance out a bad case. Generally, both need to be strong across all interviews and all rounds.

Fingers crossed!

Cheers.

Florian

Hi there, 

Congrats on getting this far!

It's totally ok for them to take a week or even more to get back to you. I wouldn't worry about it. 

Yes, the fit part being very strong can help a lot, but only if you were already borderline on the case. If the case was plain bad, then I wouldn't expect the fit part to save the situation.

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

I would say when in doubt, the case interview component is more heavily weighted than the personal fit. As a candidate, it is often also hard to judge how individual interviews went. But it is natural to think about it all the time afterwards - especially if you haven't received your feedback yet.

The fact is that nobody here will be able to give you a satisfactory answer - it would be mere speculation. You'll just have to wait until you hear back and don't get hung up on things you think didn't go well. Just keep going full steam ahead.

Fingers crossed

Hi there,

I totally understand your stress/anxiety/concern. However, there's not use worrying about this until you actually hear back!

I've had candidates where it takes weeks to hear back. You need to let them process your interview, make a decision, finish other interviews, etc. These things take time!

Hi,

I'm sure others will mention this, but the results are out of your hand right now. Only thing you can do is wait, and prepare well for the next round, or for other future interviews that you have.

From an interviewers POV, the case portion is the most important portion - there needs to be a minimum standard on your problem solving skills.

All the best!

It took 2 weeks for me to hear back after 1st round of interviews. 

Hi there,

1) How long should I wait before following up? 

I would wait a minimum of one week before following up.

2) Should I follow up with HR only, or would it be okay if I also send a LinkedIn message to the consultants who interviewed me?

HR only – part of their job is exactly to help you to understand the next steps.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hello!

It´s totally okay (and actually, recommendable) to reach out to HR at this point and kindly ask for an update

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Please relax and be patient. Dont come across as desperate.

1-2 weeks is reasonable waiting period. Fingers crossed for you.

Hi, 

what position did you apply to?

Don't worry. They always get back to you. 

And being sooner or shorter is not correlated with the likelyhood of having an offer (it is correlated to the ability of the interviewers to connect with each other, make the decision, and have time on their calendar to call you).