Bain & Company Reviews

Pros

Cooperative environment, excellent training program

Cons

Long hours, cannot choose exactly what to work on

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work

Pros

Big variety of projects
Responsibility from day one and as much as you can handle
Amazing colleagues and friends
Very strong global culture

Cons

Little predictability in schedule
Often very demanding lifestyle, long hours which can often happen due to poor scope management on behalf of the partners

Advice to Senior Management

The culture is our differentiator: continue to place a great emphasis culture as well as fit during the recruiting process

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

Working with phenomenal people on some of the toughest and most interesting business problems in the world. You are constantly being pushed to improve and expand your skills and somehow finding room for a lot of fun of your co-workers.

Cons

Fast-paced job can lead to a fast-paced lifestyle, you need to be pretty flexible with outside commitments and be ready for wahtever your client/project team needs.

Pros

Work alongside clients on critical issues
Interesting problems
Opportunity to build your own experience
Strong, collaborative culture that is sustained and valued
Lack of arrogance, far more concerned with getting stuff done that having a sense of elitism

Cons

I can be upredictable in terms of schedule
The culture demands a high level of participation which can put some stress on one's own personal life

Pros

Strong culture. Leadership that respects the talent and culture. Fun. Great benefits. Diversity at every level. Fun. Team spirit. Supportive associates. Caring. Respectful surroundings.

Cons

There are very few cons, they are the ones you find at any company. At times it can be stressful. There are times when the work load is heavy. In the end their is a work/life balance which is respected.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue doing what you are doing. Listening to all levels in the organization. Keep change coming to continue to make us the best place to work.

Pros

Opportunity to learn about a variety of industries, amazing firm culture with smart, fun, passionate yet down-to-earth people. Amazing training where you get to meet peers from all over the world. Partners & managers who really care about you and your development. Great exit opportunities to business school, industry, PE/VC, start-ups, etc.

Cons

Job can be physically and emotionally taxing. Often unpredictable spikes in hours (comes with client services industries). A difficult client or a badly scoped project can be very challenging for up to 4-6 months.

Advice to Senior Management

Emphasize the team element more when deciding manager and partner promotions, in addition to ability to drive the solution for the client. Make sure every project is set up for success with a very well defined scope. One or two bad case experiences are really the difference between a good AC leaving vs. staying.

Pros

Bain has the most fun, creative and intelligent people of any firm in the world. Bain clients are leaders in their industries and give us free reign to peer inside their companies and make suggestions for improvement, so the work is stimulating, challenging and has deep and lasting impacts. Bain is a trusted advisor in so many different industries and has developed IP on many sectors such that the business education Bainies recieve is well-rounded. Beyond the case work, the office culture is quirky and values the individuals that make it up. There are frequent and fun office events that are both planned by the office administration and that bubble up from people at all tenures here as a result of the passions they have at work (i.e. a discussion on Bain's outlook on the world economy) or the passions they have outside of work (i.e. a discussion from Whitney Tilson on the state of the educational inequity in the United States and what we can do about it). Bain's dedication to it's community here in New York is also inspiring: we work extensively with many local non-profits to raise money, donate consulting services and other time for volunteer projects to the organizations that we care about. Finally, the "extra-curriculars" ranging from Bain sports to the Bain band (that rehearses in a real recording studio and performs as the entertainment for the whole office at our summer meeting) fill the work place with energy and create lasting bonds between the extraordinary individuals who work here.

Cons

Like any service firm, the hours can be unpredictable. That said, Bain managers and leaders put a focused effort on building sustainable.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to innovate in recruiting to be on the front lines of diversifying the workplace and offering opportunties to your employees along the lines of externship and flexibly workplace models to sustain a long career at Bain.

Pros

-Intense focus on professional development, for both a future in and outside of Bain
-Amazing friendly and social atmosphere/culture
-Opportunity to work on the most challenging questions and most leveraged issues companies face
-Office transfer and externship program make it easy to explore other opportunities geographically or in other industries
-Focus on sustainable work/life balance (doesn't always work out, but the effort and processes in place clearly show that it's a priority)
-Accessibility of partner group
-Travel limited to situations/cases where it's useful (not every case requires travel)
-Generalist approach allows for diversity of experiences, but still opportunities to specialize

Cons

Not your normal 9-5 job - can be intense at times
Like other consulting firms, relatively high turnover compared to industry
Some of the bigger offices have reached size where it's difficult to know everyone in the office

Advice to Senior Management

Continue focusing on culture

Pros

- great culture and outstanding people
- flexibility and support
- focus on actionable results for the client and working with the client as their company was our own

Cons

- all downsides of Bain are downsides of consulting - some unpredictability, some travel (although not as much as potentially some other consulting firms)