The number of consultancy firms has increased over the years. Many of these firms have been set up both online and offline to provide their services. There are different types of firms available all around the world that focus on providing consultancy services, but the main difference between them is their target customers. Target customers refer to the customers the firm provides its services to. A firm’s customers can include the public sector, that is the government sector, the private sector devoid of government actions, or the non-profit organizations. There is one such consultancy firm that focuses on providing its services to all these three types of target customers. Here, let’s know about Bain First-Round Interview.
Bain and Company is one such consultancy firm that focuses on providing its service to all three types of target customers. It is the largest consultancy company to exist today and everyone wishes to work here someday. Getting a job here can be hard but never impossible. The company holds two interview rounds to select its employees. Today we will be focusing on the first interview round of Bain and company. This article will help you clear the first round of the interview so that you can easily move on to the next round.
There’s a lot that goes into building yourself for the interview. You need to be aware of the different things that can come forth before you attend the interview. Thus we are here to provide you with a complete guide about what happens in Bain and Company’s first-round interview.
What is Bain’s First Round Interview?
Bain is one of the top consultancy companies in America and thus getting into the company will require you to successfully pass two interview rounds where you would be tested for different skills and values. You might think that the first interview round would be quite easy compared to the second interview round. But here the case is quite different. Most employers or employees who are working or have worked in Bain and talk about how the first round is more harder and complex than the second interview round. This change in complexity is mostly due to the different competencies that both interviews measure.
Both first-round interviews and second-round interviews have a lot of differences within them. Let’s understand their differences one by one-
- The first round of an interview is mostly focused on understanding the core skills and abilities you have and how they can help the company. While the second round mostly focuses on your values and principles and how they can benefit the company.
- The first round of interviews will have a lot of complex case questions which are structured and you will be provided with various statistics and information to analyze the situation and give an appropriate suggestion to the client. While the second round isn’t structured like the first round and the conversations are quite random.
- The first round of interviews is conducted by lower-level consultants who analyze your interpretation skills and then you deal with problems. They analyze whether you have the core skills to carry out the job perfectly. While the sound round interviews are conducted by more senior consultants who keep the conversation open and friendly. Here they check whether the candidate passes the FIT interview or not.
What does a Bain’s First Round Interview consist of?
Bain’s first-round interview is a detailed analysis of your skills and competencies and thus you need to be well prepared for the interview where you give the right answers to the questions. But you can ace an interview only when you are aware of the different things that you need to deal with for the interview.
Here we have created a list of things that you need to prepare yourself with to know what the interview process will be like-
- No PEI Questions
What are PEI questions? PEI questions refer to personal experience questions that an interviewer asks the interviewee. One peculiar thing about Bain’s interview questions is that they don’t use a lot of PEI questions. Instead of using a lot of PEI questions, they have developed a new form of interview called the behavioral interview. This interview is completely different from the first round interview and is conducted separately for every candidate. Here the candidate is asked a lot of PEI-related questions. This means that most of the other interviews wouldn’t have PEI-related questions so you don’t need to worry a lot about them during your first-round interview.
Various examples of PEI interview questions are-
- Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
- What were your responsibilities in the previous job?
- How do you manage work?
- Which position were you in in your previous job?
All these are certainly examples of both forward-looking and backward-looking PEI questions.
- PE Cases
In Bain’s first-round interview you will get a lot of case interview questions. But one field that excites Bain the most is Private Equity. They tend to focus a lot on private equity questions in their first interview round. Thus this will help you prepare yourself better. Most case questions asked by the interviewer are related to this field so you can prepare yourself in a way that you ace this round.
Many of the first-round questions will also focus on fields on growth and statistical data. They can either focus on profits, growth, success, or productivity. The interviewer can also ask you questions that are related to recent situations. You need to research a lot before you take the interview.
- Tables and Charts
In Bian’s first-round interview the questions are quite structured due to which the interviewer provides you a lot of information and statistics related to the question. You can use these statistics to analyze the case and then come with a proper solution for the case which can be useful for the client. Most of these statistics provided by the interviewer are presented in the form of tables and charts and you need to analyze them to reach an answer. In the first round of interviews, the interviewer demands you to answer the questions in a close-ended format and thus you need to present a numerical value for the answer.
- Focus on skills
One of the main things that the first round interview focuses on is your skills and whether you can carry out the job efficiently. Thus whenever you describe yourself or talk about any experience you had in your earlier life try to talk about the times you showed your confidence, teamwork, interpersonal skill, empathy, etc. Such skills impress the interviewer as they are the most demanded skills to get a consultancy job. The company focuses a lot on your skills and thus you should work hard to show that you are the best choice for the job.
These were some things you need to keep in mind while going for Bain’s first-round interview. These pointers will help you frame your answers in a better manner and keep your confidence high throughout the interview.
How to prepare for Bain’s First-Round Interview?
We just discussed the things that you need to keep in mind when you go for Bain’s first first-round review. Here we will discuss how you can approach the interview and prepare yourself so that you appear confident in front of the interviewer. Every time you give an interview you must have felt anxiety and stress. But this can be reduced by preparing yourself before the interview.
Here we have certain tips for you that can help you prepare yourself for the interview-
- Know your interviewer- This is the first and foremost thing that you should do. Understand who you are going to meet and what they specialize in. You can easily find their data through Linkedin or a simple Google. This step will help you prepare yourself according to the fields that the interviewer expertise in. This will also help you connect with your interviewer better because you would be able to understand their views and thoughts easily and even share your views with them.
- Evaluate the opportunity- There are very few people out there who get such an incredible opportunity to give Bain’s first-round interview. This will help you realize how big this opportunity is and why you need to do your best and get to the second round. Once you understand that you have a golden chance to win this interview and become a permanent Bains employee, you can prepare yourself with much more dedication and power.
- Tell your story- Even though Bains first interview round ignores questions related to a person’s personal experiences and rather focuses on the person’s skills and abilities, the interviewer might ask you certain personal questions which will help them understand you better. Once they get to know you they can structure the questions properly. Thus you need to share your experiences and tell them what you are good at. This will make your job easy.
- Ask questions to your interviewer- Every interview ends with your interviewer asking you whether you have any questions about the job or the company. Here you need to keep yourself prepared with certain questions that you can ask the interviewer. Whenever you ask questions to a higher authority or figure it shows your confidence and ability to place your own opinion without judgment or fear. It’s of great quality. You should prepare your questions and ask them accordingly.
- Prepare a Pitch- Whenever you go for an interview the very first question that an interviewer asks is, “Tell me more about yourself.” This is the most common question that an interviewer asks you when they start the interview. You cannot afford to fumble and rethink about yourself and then talk to your interviewer. This will create a bad impression on them and they wouldn’t feel confident to take the interview further. Thus you need to prepare your introductory pitch beforehand. The various things you need to talk about in your introductory pitch would be-
- Your full name
- Your education
- Your past job
- Your hobbies and skills
- Your contributions
- Your plans
You can edit and add things to the list accordingly.
- Pay attention- Always pay attention to what the interviewer is talking about so that you can come with an answer that they want to hear. Sometimes people get lost in an interview and the interviewer needs to repeat what they already said. This instantly creates a wrong impression about you on the interviewer. Thus you need to pay attention to whatever they are saying to answer their questions properly.
These were certain tips and tricks that you can apply to prepare yourself for your first-round interview.
Skills Needed to Get a Job at Bain and Company
Every company or firm has a particular type of employee. These employees mostly have the same skills and competencies and are quite alike to each other based on their company performance. Thus you need to understand certain skills that you need to get a job at Bain and Company. Here we have curated a list of skills that you can describe during an interview to get the job. The list is as follows-
- Analytical Skills- Bain loves to hire people who have analytical skills in them. This particular type of skill is really important to understand and analyze the client’s problems in a consultancy firm. The scientific definition of analytical skills is the ability of an individual to break down complex problems into small parts which then can be attended to and solved easily rather than solving the whole thing. You can talk about these skills when you describe yourself.
- Communication skills- Bain is a consultancy firm and you need to have good communication skills to work over here. As a consultant, you constantly need to work with people and understand their problems to solve their problems. Thus having this skill is important.
- Team Player- In Bain, you need to work in teams and come up with the best advice for the clients. You should be able to understand others’ points of view and accept others’ opinions as well. You cannot, again and again, put your views onto others. You should be able to function in teams to execute the project.
These are the top three skills that you can use to describe yourself during the first round of interviews. This wok helps you seem more approachable and they might select you for the next round.
Conclusion
Getting a job at Bain and Company can be hard but with the steps and methods mentioned above, you can easily get through the first t-rounded interview. You need to be determined and keep faith in yourself to shine and grab the job. Hope the article was helpful and all for the best for your interview.
