SOVA assessment at Bain

Question

Hi community buddies,

I have got invited to take an online SOVA assessment by Bain. The assessment lasts for 75 minutes with two parts, behavioural preferences and other part that covers numerical, verbal and logical reasoning.

I was wondering if anyone has taken it before. And it would be great if you help share tips for the preparation and the resources used.

Cheers,

Sophia

Answer 1

Hi Sophia,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation from 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:

Generally speaking, the Bain Sova pre-interview assessment will be very similar to the reasoning section of the GMAT. You will be required to solve numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning exercises, as well as complete a psychometric personality test.
Therefore, I would highly advise you to familiarize yourself with the format and types of questions and utilize any practice materials or mock tests that might be available. Since it is very similar to the GMAT, official GMAT preparation material should suffice if you cannot find any old Bain Sova tests.
For the personality test, I would advise you to carefully consider the personality traits being tested and how they would be desirable in a (Bain) consultant. This might guide you in answering the questions.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for the Bain Sova pre-interview assessment and/or your upcoming Bain interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Answer 2

Hi Sophia,

Honestly, all of these online tests are very similar

Format? Somewhat different. Content and what's required from you ability-wise? Essentially the same.

The best way is to really 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.

Answer 3

Hi there,

There are several examples here on the platform for the test as well as one on MConsultingPrep's website. Worth checking out.

Best,
Cristian