Bain Second Round

Hi there,

Q: I have a second round interview with Bain next Friday for their ACI position. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to prepare for this interview round.

A final round normally has the same structure as the first round (fit + case + your questions).

In a final round, the interviewers might:

1. Spend more time on fit and your alignment with the company.
2. Ask questions related to the areas of improvement for which you got feedback after the first round.
3. Not use a “standard” case. During one of my finals I had one interview made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case.

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To prepare, you can work on the following:

1. Review your fit answers – they might spend more time on the fit part compared to the first round.
2. Work on the case areas they mentioned you could improve, if any (you can base that on the feedback they provided if present).
3. Focus your case prep on the weakest areas. If you are tracking your performance, do drills for the areas where you are struggling the most / review cases where you made mistakes.

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Extra reading:

▶ How to Prepare for a Consulting Interview

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Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there, I have just gone through recruitment for Bain. Feel free to dm me!

Hey there,

Congrats!

95% of partner rounds are just as standardized as the first round. The reason why you read about freestyle partner experiences is that they deviate from what people expect, hence they post about it more frequently online, hence giving others the impression it is much more common.

Additionally, partner rounds are often perceived as more challenging, just because it's a partner sitting across the table rather than a more junior colleague. It is purely based on the impression and not on the content. :-)

If there are any deviations from the standard interviewer guidelines, expect them to be in the following realm:

• Focus on one or two areas where you were perceived as not as strong in round one, which can be specific case questions or fit interviews
• Only doing a case, only doing fit interview instead of both
• Doing two shorter cases in quick succession
• Challenging your answers more
• Not providing any time for you to think about the answer, making it more conversational
• Asking more behavioral questions (stories and hypotheticals) instead of traditional fit questions

In any case, the most important thing is not to be startled by this and just keep working on the case or the fit in a calm manner.

All the best for your second round!

Cheers,

Florian