Bain & Company Reviews

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

• Supported cases in consumer goods, networking service, smart grid and baby formula
• Industry benchmark research: summarized development strategy by literature research and cold calling
• Modeled the potential market size of baby formula, prepared meetings and orientations
• Confection customer perception study: Designed the questionnaire for customers, modified the survey by conducting focus group research, surveyed and interviewed customers and salespeople
• Corporation due diligence of M&A: Prepared the data request PowerPoint slides for the client

Cons

very intense, too much travel, slept over for a night, compared to Mickensey and BCG, still has some thing to do.

Advice to Senior Management

great, hope to have more interactions, and more fun works to do. More brain storming other than cold calling and data research

Pros

- Work hard surrounded by very bright and competent people
- Very high learning curve
- Good benefits and salary relative to consulting firms out of the top 3

Cons

- They play on the emotional weaknesses of consultants to make them work harder
- Managers are promoted for being good client managers, not for managing teams well, so a lot of managers are not concerned with how their teams view them

Advice to Senior Management

- I know it's not easy, but one of these days Bain is going to have to deal with the fact that it's not a very welcoming environment towards women past a certain tenure. Try as they might with women's dinners, etc, it still feels like an old boys club.

Pros

It can be a great step in a career for a distinct period of time

Cons

Lean internal operations and confusing matrix internally

Pros

People are really fun. It's a laidback, fun atmosphere. The culture is very collegial and people enjoy being around each other.

Cons

The work can be dull, and you find yourself wondering what you're actually doing for companies. It can be frustrating at times.

Pros

people, cases, opportunity, comp package, exposure

Cons

life time balance
weekends of work

Advice to Senior Management

Listen more to young people

Pros

Good reputation and brand name

Cons

Poor work life balance
Very low competency of management team

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest and think twice before you act

Pros

Great brand, good stepping stone into Private Equity

Cons

No creativity required, very top-down culture

Pros

- The best people around (very social)
- A lot of international opportunities
- Very personal approach to development (externships, leave of abscence, top tier business schools)
- International training program

Cons

- Requires flexibility on travel and hours

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the open and honnest communication.

Pros

- Amazing culture; lots of fun
- Non-hierarchical; open communication
- Great career support (i.e. mentorship, continuous feedback, etc.)
- Very interesting work (i.e. challenging and high-impact projects)
- Plenty of opportunities to pursue a truly global career

Cons

- Significant travel in certain offices
- Working hours can be long in certain projects

Advice to Senior Management

Continue doing such a fantastic job!