Bain & Company Reviews in Boston, MA Area

Pros

The people who work at Bain are smart, fun, motivated, caring and will become some of the your closest friends. A mission statement and corporate philosophy that you can believe in and see everyone from the most senior partners of the company to the receptionist practicing every day.

Cons

A very lean company where an incredible vacation benefit often goes to waste, because you cannot find the time to take-off. Long days, nights, and weekends are the norm.

Advice to Senior Management

Greater investment in work/life balance for CSS staff.

Pros

Great place in terms of work/life balance. Managers are very fair about lettign employees use thier vacation time and are understanding when unexpected scenarios present themselves. The company is very unique in the culture and the various activties they offer throughout the year to reward employees. When they want to do something they do go all in. There is no holding back or cutting corners.

Cons

Working in the administrative side of the business, chance for job growth and promotions are limited. A lot of the upper level managers have been here for a long time and are not going anywhere. There is very little chance to move up. There are no mid-level managerial positions and your career path can be very ambiguous at times. Hiring practices for open positions can be a lengthy process as the company looks to hire Senior level people at Junior level pay.

Advice to Senior Management

Although a lot is done to breakdown the barrier between the Administrative and Consulting sides of the company, it is still there and being an Administrative employee can feel like a 2nd class citizen at times. Company has come a long way, but there is still a lot more that can be done. Understanding the revenue generation comes from the Consulting side and that is the company's driving force, more recognition of the Administrative/Support Services would be nice.

Pros

Client engagements are overall very interesting and focused on the most important issues
Culture is top rate
People care about your development

Cons

Travel can be draining. Seems to be increasing
Can't ever be 100% sure that your personal plans will stick
Premium product offered to clients means there's never room to relax

Advice to Senior Management

Keep being selective about client engagements. Growth at the expense of good people isn't worth it. Thanks for the support!

Pros

The people and my direct team are great to work with. Overall, it's a fun company to work for. The company perks and benefits are great (e.g., free coffee, cereal and fruit, monthly socials and gatherings to keep employees happy).

Cons

Unfairness in promotion. Bain often creates job titles/positions that aren't applicable in the outside work world. There is a huge disconnect between the administrative and consulting staff in terms of treatment and pay. Senior management tend to promote within if the candidate comes from a 'consulting' background, despite the person's hands on experience and knowledge in the industry. Senior management often values a consultant's perspective/insight more so than that of an admin employee with extensive knowledge and background in the industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Value your hard working employees and their expertise. Consultants aren't the only ones with expertise to offer to Bain. Bain should be able to do things more in-house versus having projects outsourced (to India or companies with certain expertise).

Pros

The company has a moto of "Work Hard Play Hard" and they stand behind it. There are high expectations of employee performance and the rewards for hard work are regular. The company fosters an environment where employees from all departments and level socialize and share their views related to the business. Bain also has a commitment to improving a range of business and career skills for all employees. Employees are provided with all of the tools they need to perform their job, there are almost no questions asked about requests, this fosters a feeling of trust and respect between the employee and the company.

Cons

The only con that comes to mind is the lower salary for my position in the industry. The work load and complexity of the work load is much greater then others in the same position yet out pay is lower. Then again Bain seems to attempt to offset the lower pay with more paid socializing events.

Advice to Senior Management

Set a goal to encourage and foster mentorship for the young employees within the company. Giving the young employees a chance to learn from the older and experienced employees will open opportunities for the younger employees.

Pros

Culture is cult like - if you work hard play hard, this is the place for you
Compensation is the same as McK & BCG - almost best of breed in consulting
Nature of work - one of 3 places to do core strategy work.

Cons

Work can be demanding, there is pressure to over deliver all the time because the client is paying big bucks, system is not set up to make you successful - you have to do that yourself - but they will give you the training, tools, etc...

Advice to Senior Management

All in all management is doing a great job to preserve the culture and stay connected with alums. Keep it up.

Pros

People are smart and very friendly. Great culture. Good place to learn. Very little office politics. They focus on developing their people. Work/life balance not always perfect, but they try very hard.

Cons

Hours can be long at times. Experience varies a lot based on case. McKinsey and BCG may pay marginally better.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up! I'll continue telling friends to apply whether out of college or an MBA program. Community is great.

Pros

Great name recognition, good spring board

Cons

Hard core work environment. High stress.

Advice to Senior Management

You don't have to kill us just because your bosses creamed you.

Pros

Great advancement opportunities outside of consulting. Good career track within. Pay for bschool if you agree to come back after 2 years. Can manage people 3 years out of undergrad

Cons

Is a good job if you like consulting. However, advising companies can get tiring. Being in the private equity group is even more exhausting.

Advice to Senior Management

Better staffing transparency would be nice. Hiring more industry experts who have actually worked in industry at the partner levels.

Pros

Greta barnd name. Proud to work here.

Cons

Long long hours. lots of travel.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep doing what you're doing.