I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Bain & Company (San Francisco, CA) in Oct 2012
Interview
Standard hiring process through college. Dates and deadlines announced online, with a generic info-session arranged at the college. Upload your resume, cover letter and transcripts online. First round is on campus, followed by at-office for the second decision round. Hardest parts are the resume screening and round 2.
Notwithstanding what anyone says - it helps to network and know people at the office. Also, Bain arranges a mock case study session like most other big consulting firms before starting the interviews and after resume screening is done. DO NOT go into the idea that the mock cases are in anyway representative of what the actual interview are like. Actual cases are very intensive and need ample previous practice.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A round 2 case with the Partner. Case was about VAT (sales tax) recovery option for foreign tourists in a country. The agency that handles the VAT recovery is an investment target for a private equity firm. The task was to suggest growth strategies to the pr.eq. for the agency's business. Note the deliberate use of multiple confusing layers, and bringing up an industry that you are sure never to have heard of. The challenge is to be able to deal with such situations.
2 cases for R1. Pretty straightforward cases about revenue optimization opportunities. There was a little bit of market sizing but all data needed was given. No behaviorals asked in round 1 for me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What office did you choose and why? Do you have competing offers?
2 rounds, 1st round 2 small cases, not very difficult , market entry cases.
2nd long case with a deck to read and prepare answers..45 mins to read, 15 mins to answer
Three rounds of interviews, generally 2 rounds in person or remote with live consultants. Each round involves a 2-3 case interviews each, which generally also include a set of behavioural questions.