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BAIN Southeast Asia/Brazil Test

Bain MBB
New answer on May 14, 2021
4 Answers
1.6 k Views
Anonymous A asked on May 13, 2021

Halo, Does anyone know the type of questions BAIN SEA/Brazil gives for the first assessment (just after you submit your cv)?

How can I learn that ?

Thank you

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Francesco
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Content Creator
replied on May 14, 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

I helped a few candidates who passed recently the Bain SEA test.

The structure of the test was the following:

  • HireVue based
  • 25 multiple-choice questions in 50 min – McKinsey PST style
  • One-way video assessment at the end with 3 questions
  • Calculators were not allowed (in theory) – they explicitly mentioned this in the initial instructions. However, they cannot really check it ;)
  • You cannot go back to previous questions

PST and BCG Potential Test would be good to practice for it, the questions are quite similar.

Before the test, they will send you an email clarifying if this is indeed the format for your particular case.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

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Ian
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replied on May 13, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

I presume you're asking about the online assessment or SOVA?

The best way to prepare is to find online tests / questions and practice. Regardless as to whether is a new or old test, the principles are mostly the same:

  • Time management (need to think quick)
  • Business knowledge/context (incl key formulas)
  • Critical thinking (answers that are very similar to each other...clues "hidden" in the text)
  • Ability to interpret data/charts

Think of it as a merge of a case and the GMAT/GRE.

You need to be clear on some key case-related and account formulas (margin, growth, breakeven, etc) as well as be good at critically understanding the question (including nuance to questions) and parsing through complicated text with a fair amount of distraction.

You'll also need to be good at chart/graph reading.

The (old) McKinsey PST, BCG Online Test, Bain SOVA test, etc. are all quite similar so leverage resources across all of them (feel free to message if you'd like any of these!)

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Clara
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replied on May 14, 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Most of the online tests are very similar, and test the same skillset. It´s a good thing, since you can prep for them with a very unified approach. Although this may not seem so at first sight since the formats may differ, what is important here -as well as when solving cases- is the core skillset they are tryng to test. This is common, and the most important skills are:

80-20 analysis: capacity to analize, interpret and extract conclusions quickly and in a agile way from a ton of data -of which not all is useful-

Analytic and critical thinking: many ways tested with graphs, charts and tables, that you need to understand and derive decisions or insights from

Mathematical skills: are always somehow present, for which you need to be fast int he basics

The way to get better is practicing as much as possible with similar exercises -those targeted at the same skillset-. Hence, I would strongly recomment you practice it with the Integrated Reasoning part of the GMAT exam.

There are free exams in the internet that you can use for practice (the one of LBS MBA page, Verits prep, as well as some free trials for courses such as the one of The Economist (gmat.economist.com/)

Furthermore, you can leverage the MBB tests (myconsultingoffer.org/case-study-interview-prep/bcg-online/, psychometricinstitute.co.uk/Free-Aptitude-Tests.asp, and many others)

Hope it helps!

Best,

Clara

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Anonymous B replied on May 14, 2021

For Bain Southeast Asia the recruiter can give you sample test questions (no answers) if you ask. It's quite heavy in math, charts, and structuring problems (e.g. logical progression when doing analysis).

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Antonello
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Content Creator
replied on May 13, 2021
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi, I have some practice example to share in PM and dedicated sessions to crack it

Best,
Antonello

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Francesco gave the best answer

Francesco

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