Bain & Company Consultant Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated Nov 4, 2011 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 15 ratings 
“Difficult” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 15 ratings
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| 1–10 of 15 Bain & Company Interviews | Sort by |
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Nov 4, 2011
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2011 in Los Angeles, CA (took 4+ weeks)
Standard consulting intervew. First round was way easier than on this board. KNOW HOW TO DO PERCENTAGES quickly e.g. 15 percent of a number. Stupid question on two cars with different intial costs and MPG, find breakeven point.
Gets trickier in later rounds. Zero stress tests, Bain is a nice company.
Interview Questions
Reason for Declining
Better offer elsewhere
Other Details
The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Oct 31, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 in Johannesburg (South Africa) (took a day)
Received the interview after applying through the on-campus interview process at my B-school. I had indicated Joburg as one of several international locations, and provided some justification in my cover letter. I received the invitation to interview through email, separately from the on-campus process. The process consisted of two roughly 30-minute interviews. The fit portion of each was much more shallow than my experience with any other firm. Quick and dirty, why consulting, why Bain, why Joburg. One case was very ambiguous, more of a conversation, and nothing I was able to write much about (although that could be why I didn't do so well). Other case was more traditional. Received phone call (ding!) within 45 minutes, but I could tell it was coming.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Oct 30, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 in Dallas, TX (took a day)
The interview was 2 Back to Back interviews. Each interview had about 10-15 minutes of "Fit" and a 30 min Case.
One Case was a question about a Broadcasting Company (TV). The goal or objective was to drive short term profits. And the interview focused more on the cost side of things.
Another Case was a Gas Station/Convenience Store located in a local neighborhood. The case involved assessing whether to open a new store. Part of this was market sizing. Part was figuring out the key drivers, and how/why the market structure was a particular way.
Both interviews involved typical case questions about background, why consulting, why Bain. Examples of leadership, and dealing with persuasion in a difficult situation.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Apr 16, 2011 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2009 (took a day)
I had interviewed across all of the big consulting firms, including some boutique firms. As a grad student finishing a PhD, I was a bit of a fish out of water, but fared well . . . in other words, I made it to the final round interview at multiple locations and accepted a job offer at one - things have worked out extremely well in the years since. So I'm you're a PhD student reading this, don't be intimidated by the interview process.
This introduction is a bit self-serving, but the purpose is to state the case that I had a very positive interview experience overall, especially for a non-traditional interviewee; I had a very poor experience with Bain. This is the only firm where I did phone interviews. I was scheduled for 2 30-minute cases back to back. As I struggled through the first case - yes, it didn't go very well - the phone interviewer (rudely) interrupted me and told me to stop after ~10 - 15 minutes. He snarkily (is that a word?) recited the 'answer' and proceeded to hang up the phone, leaving me ~15 minutes to sit in silence and wait for the next call, which was the last thing I wanted at that point. If you're wondering, the interviewer hung up the phone without saying goodbye, or giving me a chance to recover my poor start to the case, or ask any questions about Bain. Didn't I still have 15 minutes to turn it around?
You're interviewing me, I'm interviewing you, I get it. If someone presents a poor interview, you don't want to waste your time, I get it. But after a couple of successful years in the industry, I know to conduct myself graciously and professionally, even during interviews, as I and everyone else I work with is an ambassador to my firm. You are Bain, and everyone wants to work for you, I get it. But the level of respect i received at BCG, McKinsey, and all of the other interviews that I gave was not even close to the lack of class and professionalism that were presented from Bain. Blessing in disguise; no job offer from Bain.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (1)
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Mar 20, 2011 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2009 (took 1 week)
The interview was a typical consulting interview. The interviews ask questions to put you on the spot and see your thinking process. It is not too difficult if you can think on your feet. One of the questions that were asked was: How many ping-pong balls fit in a 747. There is no right answer, they just want to see your thought process.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Nov 27, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2010 in Atlanta, GA (took 3 weeks)
Seemed like a good place to work. Very friendly people. The partners in the second round were a bit more stoic. But case interviews in both first and second round were not exceedingly difficult. I found the written case a bit more challenging as I had to make sense out of 60 slides, write three summary slides and prepare a spiel, all within 60 minutes. I still don't know what the best way to deal with this is. Formulate an initial hypothesis then look for all the evidence you can (risk being way off) or browse all slides, decide what is generally interesting and then synthesize (time is not on your side).
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Presentation.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Oct 27, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took a day)
I applied online and then was called for the first round. Mixed feelings. I did OK on the cases but the feedback was that I was "too precise on the math" (guess I should not have pointed out the math error the interviewer made) and that I was not "convincing". They let me know the same day, so at least I did not have to wait around but I kind of expected more. One of the interviewers was nice, but one was arrogant so it left me with a not very good impression.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Sep 29, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2010 (took 1 week)
There was a lot of 'socializing' and 'networking.' For instance, we had a info session, then were accepted for first round, contacted by someone in the company for a phone mock interview, had a case interview session on campus, had a dinner the night before the interview, and finally the interview.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Aug 11, 2010
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2008 (took 2 weeks)
Typical consulting interview with case studies. 2 rounds.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Consultant at Bain & Company
Posted Jun 4, 2010 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2009 (took a day)
I got a call from the company as a referral. The interview consisted of a detailed questionnaire about financial news, concepts, accounting methods etc. There were also questions on general knowledge, like CEOs of companies, market positions of companies etc. After that I had an online test where my research skills were evaluated.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and an IQ/Intelligence Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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