Hi, I'm Gonzalo. I decided to pursue a career in consulting to explore a wide array of opportunities and to grow my professional skills at an accelerated pace. Not only does Bain give me the professional opportunities I was looking for, but it's also a place where I can have a happy personal life. I feel like the people I care about are valued, that I’m given the flexibility to be present in their lives and that I work with exceptional people.
"My favorite case has been a pro bono project we did on the growth strategy for a charter school network. "
The work was extremely interesting, as we were helping the network decide where to open schools and what they should look like from a school model perspective. We got to work from one of the network’s schools and to see firsthand the positive change our work was bringing to disadvantaged kids in the community. Plus, we had a great team and a lot of fun!
I've been part of the Bain Houston office for just under a year now, and have had a chance to do a wide variety of things, from casework to undergrad recruiting to planning one of our volunteer day projects. I've also had a chance to work locally, travel to two different states, and to Canada—all in less than a year. And from a development standpoint, I have seen my responsibilities grow with each passing month. My role on cases has expanded, and I'm doing things I never thought I’d be doing this early in my career.
On my current case, I've gained a surprising amount of technical oil and gas knowledge, and now I feel like I've been working in the industry for a couple of years (although it’s actually been about a month and a half). I have also learned to look at data in new ways and how to cut through the noise and get to what really matters. On top of that, I've had opportunities to develop my “soft skills," such as being trusted by my team to answer questions posed by the superintendent of a large charter school network.
What I love about the Houston office is how close knit it is. We host a ton of formal and informal events, and my significant other is almost always welcome to come. We sit around one big table at lunch and eat together, from partners down to ACs. And not only that, but we are also part of the larger Texas office, which means I get to see my Bain Dallas friends a good bit.
My biggest piece of advice for anyone considering Bain or undergoing the recruiting process is to keep your head up. Not every interview or practice case is going to go right. No one nails every case. So don’t let a bad performance get you down. If your first case interview doesn’t go as well as you’d like, clear that from your head and go crush the next one.
