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I have a first-round interview with Bain. Can you give me any general advice?
How many interviews will I have?
So what is the first interview like in the first round?
Can you give me some examples of a short problem? What am I expected to do?
I'm doing an arts degree and have heard that the short problem requires some complex math. Is this true?
What does my second interview in the first round entail?
Can you give me an example of the sort of case that I might be given?
What am I supposed to do now?
Do you have any generic case study tips?
Is there anywhere else that I might be able to find some further case study examples?
So that's the first round taken care of—what happens next?
A written case study. What does that entail?
This has all been really helpful. What if I have any other questions about the process?
I have a first-round interview with Bain. I have cleared the first hurdle but I am still nervous about the interviews. Can you give me any general advice?
Yes. Relax and enjoy your interviews! We try to make our interview process as painless and enjoyable as we can so you can perform to the best of your abilities. This means that we want you to be relaxed. You will find our interviewers friendly and approachable. We do not ask 'trick' questions to try to catch you out. We are looking for people that we would enjoy working with on a day-to-day basis—so try to relax and be yourself.
How many interviews will I have?
You will have two interviews in your first round, each lasting about 35 minutes. If you are successful, there is then a second round of three interviews in London about two weeks later.
So what is the first interview like in the first round?
Your first interview is with two Bain people—an associate consultant and a consultant. This interview is primarily focused on finding out a bit more about you, as well as providing you with the chance to find out more about what a career at Bain might be like. The first half of the interview will focus on your interests and achievements to date, and your past and future motivations. We will use your CV and covering letter as a prompt, so make sure that you re-read them before your interview. The second half of the interview will involve us posing you a short problem. There will then be a chance at the end of the interview for you to ask any questions that you may have about Bain.
Can you give me some examples of a short problem? What am I expected to do?
Some examples of this type of problem might be for you to estimate the annual revenue of the London Eye, or the number of CD players in the UK.
Remember that there are no "right" answers to these problems. In fact, your interviewer will not know what the exact answer is. We are simply looking to see whether you are able to structure your answer in a logical way, perform some rough calculations, and then check that your answer makes sense at the end.
I'm doing an arts degree and have heard that the short problem requires some complex math. Is this true?
Absolutely not. To be a good consultant requires you to be comfortable with numbers. This is reflected in your interview, where we look for a basic level of mental arithmetic, but nothing more. For example, you should be able to work out 30x200 or 80% of 4000.
Great—the first interview sounds fine. What does my second interview in the first round entail?
This is a case study interview with a Bain Manager. We present you with a real business problem that we have faced at Bain and ask you to think through potential solutions. We are looking to see how you deal with an unfamiliar and sometimes complex issue. Don't worry—you are not expected to be familiar with the issues or with the business concerned. We are interested in your analytical capabilities rather than in any existing business knowledge that you might have.
Your interviewer will begin by giving you some detailed background facts about the problem. It is often a good idea to write some of these down! You will then be asked to break the problem down into parts, identify what you think are the most important areas to consider, and finally to propose some solutions to the problem.
Remember, rather like the short problem, there is no "right" answer. Try to approach the problem in a logical manner, and talk your interviewer through your assumptions at every stage.
Can you give me an example of the sort of case that I might be given?
Absolutely. Let's go through a sample case study. For instance, your interviewer may tell you:
"The Chief Executive of a fruit juice manufacturing company in Spain has called in Bain. The company's profits have declined by 20% since last year. Bain has been asked to help work out what has gone wrong and how to fix it. I want you to structure the problem and work through to a possible solution."
What am I supposed to do now?
Don't panic! We know that this sort of problem will feel highly unfamiliar to most of you, and we certainly don't expect you to know anything about the Spanish fruit juice market! The most important thing is to lay out a coherent structure.
To start, try to break the problem down into its constituent parts. For example, you might say something along these lines:
"The company's profits are its sales minus its costs. Therefore any decline in profits has to be driven by either decreasing sales or increasing costs, or both.
Sales are driven by the quantity of fruit juice sold (volume) and the price.
The main costs involved in manufacturing and selling fruit juice are likely to be: raw materials (oranges, apples etc.), manufacturing costs (the factory, labour etc.), packaging (bottles, cans, cartons etc.) and distribution (lorries, storage etc.)"
Having identified all the potential parts of the answer, you should ask your interviewer questions to further explore the problem. For example, you might ask some of the following questions:
"What has happened to revenues over the last couple of years?"
"Has the company seen a fall in the quantity of fruit juice sold?"
"What has been happening to their costs"?
"Has every fruit juice manufacturer experienced the same problem?"
From the answers that you receive to these questions, you should begin to identify what the key issues are. Try to ask further questions to focus on the most important issues. For example, you might ask:
"Why was there a fall in price in the fruit juice market in Spain?"
"Why have competitors been able to maintain their volumes while ours have been falling?"
"Why did manufacturing costs rise so substantially?"
Finally, once you have successfully isolated and focused on the key issues, try to propose some solutions. You can be as creative as you wish here, but try to focus on tangible solutions that you think that the company could actually implement. Depending on the answers to your previous questions, you might believe that some of the following are the right answers to the decline in profits:
"It looks like raw material costs are the major factor behind declining profitability. The company should go to its suppliers and make sure that it is getting the best price from them"
or perhaps:
"I think that the company's declining profitability has been principally driven by declining volume. Consequently, we need to make sure that the company's competitors do not continue to steal its customers. To stop this we could look to improve its distribution to key outlets, and perhaps start to aggressively push its product through the large European supermarkets."
That is really useful. Do you have any generic case study tips?
Try to think about the following when you are tackling all case studies.
1. Take your time
35 minutes is a long time—you are not expected to crack the case in two minutes
2. Lay out a framework
Use a framework to break the problem down into its various parts at the start
3. Ask questions
Treat the interview as a two-way conversation. You need information from your interviewer to be able to solve the problem effectively. Moreover, don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand what a term means. Remember that you are not expected to have an extensive business vocabulary, and we are not trying to catch you out.
4. Be concise
Focus on what you think are the key issues. Don't list every single issue, question and solution that you think might exist.
5. Explain your logic
Interviewers are not mind-readers. Don't just give them an answer. Explain to them why you came to a particular conclusion, or why you used a particular assumption.
6. Write things down
It helps both you and your interviewer to understand your logic and approach if you write things down as you go along
7. Is there anywhere else that I might be able to find some further case study examples?
Learn more about Bain's case studies and try some of our interactive practice cases online.
So that's the first round taken care of—what happens next?
At the end of the day on which we interview you, your interviewers will meet to discuss your interviews, and to decide if you should progress through to the second round. We know waiting can be painful, so we send you a letter that evening to let you know the outcome.
As we mentioned earlier, the second round interviews take place in London about two weeks after the first round. There, you will have three further interviews. Two of these interviews will be similar to the case study interview that you had in the first round. The third interview will be a written case study.
A written case study. That sounds a bit different to the other interviews. What does that entail?
Actually, you should approach the written case study in exactly the same way as the other case study interviews. You will be given some written information outlining a particular business problem, similar to the oral case studies, but with a little more detail. Attached to this information are a number of questions. You have approximately 40 minutes to read the information and to prepare answers to the questions. Your interviewer will then sit down and walk through the case with you verbally, discussing your answers in the same way as a normal case study. You should try to follow exactly the same tips as for the other case studies.
This has all been really helpful. What if I have any other questions about the process?
If you have any questions at all about the interview process, please do not hesitate to contact Tanith Hough either by email tanith.hough@Bain.com or by telephone: 020 7969 6277.
Good Luck!
