Feedback first round Bain

Bain & Company interview feedback
New answer on Dec 04, 2021
6 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Nov 30, 2021

I had my first round last week and didn’t pass. they told me I was very structured and analytical but I lacked on business judgment and especially on case leadership.

any advice on how to practice this skill? 

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Francesco
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replied on Nov 30, 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the rejection.

Do you know the parts of the case they are referring to? It would be easier to help you to improve on “I could not assess properly if Market XYZ was attractive” rather than on “I did not have business judgment”.

In case you don’t know, the following are some possible ways to improve.

Business judgment

I assume you were lacking knowledge of specific concepts/industries/topics (if the problem was on finding creative solutions or structuring, the answer would be different).

You could improve with the following.

  1. Identify the most challenging concepts/industries for you. Chances are you find more challenging specific topics. Try to identify the main ones based on your current case practice.
  2. Find some good consulting MBA casebooks. You can find several online for free (eg INSEAD).
  3. Filter the handbooks by the topic interesting for you (eg digital payments) and do/read the cases. Don’t focus on the structure (they are not particularly good in casebooks) but rather on the concepts present in the case. Track the terminology/concepts that are challenging for you.
  4. Once identified concepts you don’t understand, look for more specific resources for that online. For example, if you find challenging to understand the value chain for an industrial goods company, look for information on that.

Case leadership

I assume the problem was you were not driving the case. This is a common mistake candidates do in BCG and Bain interviews, in particular when they prepared for an interviewer-led approach. You should do 2 main things to drive a case:

1. Explain your hypothesis/findings on what you should do next after you complete an analysis/structuring part. This should be related to the goal of the analysis. Example:

  • My hypothesis is that the problem is related to the cost of raw material

2. Ask a question to get information/data related to the approach you want to follow, so that you can proceed with the next steps. Example:

  • To check if that’s correct, do we have any information on how costs changed in the last year?

Hope this helps,

Francesco

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Ian
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replied on Nov 30, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the results.

I will say that if you didn't pass the 1st round there is still a significant amount of work ahead of you. My guess is that the case leadership really killed you (this skill is critical).

Business Judgement

  1. Start daily reading! (The FT, BCG insights, etc.)
  2. Start doing industry deep-dives (setup a template/outline and research them)
  3. Review your old cases and think through them

Case Leadership

  1. Honestly, get a case coach. This is such a hard skill to learn and really best taught live (not through reading material + Q&As)
  2. Learn how to be objective-driven
  3. Learn by casing others in cases you struggled in
  4. Review your old cases and think through them

Some helpful Q&As on case leadership:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-be-hypothesis-driven-what-does-is-really-mean-10327

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/at-what-point-in-the-case-does-the-interviewee-state-hypothesis-9356

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Hagen
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replied on Nov 30, 2021
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about the rejection!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • First of all, I suppose you have been provided with more details on where exactly you lacked those skills? This might help identifying what parts of the case study interview you might still improve on.
  • In case you have not been provided with more details on where exactly you lacked those skills, I would advise you to 1) think through theoretically what great business judgement and great case leadership along the different parts of a case study look like and 2) practice it. For instance, think through how you could display great business judgement when asking clarifying questions (e.g. by stating your hypothesis/ perspective on the matter first and then asking) or how you could display case leadership in the analysis part (e.g. by always providing intermediate summaries, referring back to your structure and proposing the next step in your analysis).

In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best work on the feedback provided, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

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Clara
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replied on Nov 30, 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Sorry to hear about this. 

I don´t love this feedback, since it can for sure be real, but I have seen plenty of occasions in which it´s given as a generic feedback to get the conversation out of the way. 

If we operate under the assumption that is true (again, with a pinch of salt), I would say practice is the only thing that would give you that “business acumen in casing”. It doesn´t seem like this at the beggining, but casing is extremely repetitive when you have done it long enaugh, and then you anticipate, create stronger hypothesis from the beginning, etc. That is the point you need to reach. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

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Adi
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replied on Nov 30, 2021
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Couldn't agree more with Francesco's answer.

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Pedro
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replied on Dec 04, 2021
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

Business judgement means that you need to either know more about business or improve your ability to bring real-life knowledge to your cases.

This means that instead of giving theoretical examples, you give real practical examples on the specific situations / hypothesis (for example, for the “brainstorming” part.

You should on the one hand read about business (and even read the business articles that MBB often have on their websites). You should also read frequently business articles - but focusing on those that discuss problems being faced by companies. 

Finally, doing (and reading) a lot of cases can help as well. The issue there is having good materials and good case partners.

Of course, it would be much easier to give you actionable and spot-on advice by having a session with you. The feedback you received was generic, and you'll only get generic feedback here, as none of us really understands the problem in-depth.

Regarding driving the case… you probably didn't practice many cases with peers, did you?

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Francesco gave the best answer

Francesco

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