Hi experts,
I'm preparing for a 1st Round interview with Bain in Estern Europe. Do you have any suggestions, nuances that I should keep in mind, things that are different for Bain's interview compared with other companies' interviews?
Hi!
I have been working at Bain & Co for ~2.5 years, so can help you with this question. I did my interviews in the Italian office (Milan), but I believe the approach for the first interview will not vary that much.
In your first interview you will meet 2 managers/ Principals from Bain and each of them will drive you through a business case.
My personal advice, as Bain people are on average very approachable and friendly, try to act as friendly and relaxed as possible (I know it is hard!).
In terms of approach and hints to ace the case, see below a few points:
- Make sure you take some time after the business case has been defined for you by the Manager to set a logic and solid structure; how you think and your logic are things which are pretty important in Bain
- Do not panic if you do not nail the case at first, what the manager wants to test is your ability to think about tings in a logic way and drive logic conclusions. If you do not nail the case at first, try to come up with multiple options which make sense and do not stop/ panic
- In terms of menthal reasoning and calcs, naturally you have to prepare in advance; however, i found that Bain pays more attention to the overall structure and logic in developing the case from the candidate vs.being able to do crazy calcs. In my experience, they always allowed me to round numbers to make calculations easier, whilst McKinsey is very focused on menthal math
Hope this is helpful and that the interview goes well! I remember some of the business cases done in Bain interviews, so let me know if you need any help.
Thanks,
Annalisa
Not really, standard advice applies. Just make sure to answer the "why Bain" + know what Bain's geographical comparative strength is.
Congrats on the interview, good luck
Hi,
I have more than a hundred real Bain cases in my library, and there are several differences:
Best
LubricantsCo, a very successful Asian premium producer of lubricants in their native region, would like to further increase their revenue and profit. The product range ranges from lubricants in the automotive sector (e.g. motor and gear oil) to industrial applications (e.g. fats, heavy-duty oils). ... Open whole case
You have inherited the “Old Winery” from your grandfather, a winery that has been family-owned for five generations and can be dated back to the 16th century. Half of the eleven hectares are used to grow white grapes, the other half to grow red grapes. They are grown in a conventional way, i.e. the ... Open whole case
Tell me about a difficult situation you had to cope with. Tell me of a task which you didn’t like doing and explain why you performed it nevertheless. Why do you do things? What do you like doing most / What is your favorite hobby? Walk me through a situation where you showed leadership skills ... Open whole case
Our client is SmartBridge, a nonprofit educational institution offering face-to-face tutoring services. The client operates in the US. The mission of SmartBridge is to help as many students as possible to complete studies and prevent that they drop from the school system, in particular in disadvant ... Open whole case
Problem definition: Our client is Korean Car Parts (KCP), a multi-national original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of car parts based in Korea. They've recently seen a decline in profits and have brought us in to understand how to address this falling profitability. Open whole case
