Overview

Introduction

The “heart” of the Big Three, Bain & Company is known as much for its ambition and future-defining innovations as it is for its culture. “A Bainie never lets another Bainie fail,” as the saying goes, because of the rich and deeply compassionate culture that puts its people first and empowers them to deliver consistently outstanding work on a global scale.

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Firsthand Findings

 

“Powerful” and “energizing”: two words insiders used to describe Bain & Company’s culture in response to one of this year’s survey questions. A consistent winner with respect to corporate culture, Bain has garnered a reputation as being the most “human” of the MBB firms. Year after year, Bain employees describe a vibrant culture of almost unparalleled compassion, camaraderie, and “fun”.

Those who have yet to experience life at one of the Big 3 can only imagine the demands that these firms (let alone their clients) place on employees: the hours, the magnitude of solving some of the world’s most complex and impactful business problems. Yet, while acknowledging how intense the work can be, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Bain consult...

About the Company

 

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change-makers define the future.  Across 59 offices in 37 countries, the firm works alongside clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. Bain & Company complements its tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Its 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings its talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since the founding of Bain & Company in 1973, it has measured its success by the succ...

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Employee Reviews

  • “Vibrant culture which thrives off of fun, innovation, impact, pursuit of excellence and connectivity.”
  • “We genuinely have more fun and enjoy each other’s company far more than other businesses. That means a lot when you think about how much of your life you spend on work.”
  • “What sets Bain apart from its peers is 1) Its incredible growth and the development and career advancement opportunities that creates for its people, 2) The exposure and impact you continuously have, starting very early in your career, and 3) The authenticity and care evident in everyone around you. I cannot imagine a better community to be a part of.”
  • “There is no question for me that my firm's culture is what separates it from the competition. I received offers from several other firms of comparable prestige when I went through the interview process, and was won over by the quality of people that I met at Bain. This continues to be the reason I plan to stay at this firm – and conversations that I have had with friends at comparable firms have confirmed that I made the right decision. Bain is truly unique in terms of its culture and the environment that it creates.”
  • “I truly believe this is the perfect job at any stage of a career, but particularly if you are coming out of school (graduate or undergraduate). I cannot emphasize enough how much I have grown over the course of my time here, and that growth is invaluable as I look forward in my career. Bain combines significant personal growth with an inclusive, fun, and supportive environment that makes every day better.”
  • “The people at Bain set it apart. I remember on the day of my interviews walking from the reception area to the interview room. There were colleagues high-fiving in the hall, smiling, and clearly working together in a team room. This was so different from one of the other top firms where it was like a library when I visited for interviews. The top-notch firm culture and inspiring colleagues are the top reasons I have stayed at Bain. It is so nice to work with people who are smart, encouraging, and friendly, and always have something interesting and valuable to add to conversation.”
  • “Very strong day to day culture; work life balance can sometimes be challenging due to client services. For a client services firm, Bain does focus a lot on how they can make things better.”
  • “Hours tend to be high, but [are] actually more reasonable than some competitors based on my experience. Travel requirements can be high as well, but we've gotten better about being flexible in that regard lately. Of course, we are currently not traveling due to COVID.”
  • “Hours can spike from time to time, but we always balance with time off, flexibility, signing off early, etc. Quality of life is what you make of it at Bain and that is the key.”
  • “I consider my firm's health and wellness efforts to be top notch - the company's leadership seems to have a real commitment to the health and wellness of employees, and have made a significant push to expand this conversation into mental health (e.g., meditation) in addition to physical health (e.g., fitness reimbursements, group fitness classes, fitness challenges).”
  • “Very accommodating [with vacation time] – we have 20 days paid vacation at this point, and office culture actively encourages me to use it to recharge; vacations are "sacred" and almost never interrupted by work.”
  • “Free meditation apps, office workgroup that organizes and promotes mental health initiatives, and in pre-Covid-19 times [we had] occasional exercise competitions (e.g. counting miles run or peloton workouts). Attitude of office is that health and mental health are serious and important; office encourages that we take days off if we need to support mental health or mitigate burn out.”
  • “The salary progression of my firm is easily the largest perk with regards to their compensation package. Salaries regularly increase significantly (e.g., ~30-50%), which is quite rare. The fact that I can rest assured that my compensation will continue to rise significantly while I am here is a significant perk.”
  • “Best: profit sharing and bonuses result in a roughly ~66% lift in total compensation at my current level and salary progression is excellent. Worst: we need to wait until our third year as a new consultant before profit sharing payout is triggered.”
  • “Great income with visibility into growth in coming years.”
  • “Highly competitive package relative to market. Highly meritocratic from an internal POV.”
  • “Transparent compensation, extremely competitive, clear merit-based bonus [structure].”
  • “Partner compensation strongly rewards teaming and building long-term assets in people, clients, and IP.”
  • “Simply put, there is no better place for mentorship, coaching, career development, and creation of career opportunities than Bain & Company. Everyone here genuinely wants to support each other and see everyone successful, within Bain and beyond.”
  • “Bain & Company strives to be a meritocracy. In other jobs, I had to worry about being in the right role in the right department in the right business unit to get the right promotion at the right time. At Bain, I am free to focus on doing the best job in my current role knowing that if I am successful in the role I have I will earn more responsibility as I learn and grow.”
  • “Bain offers incredible training programs, formal and informal. The formal trainings are conducted internationally, which provides a great opportunity to meet and network with individuals from across the globe. There is also plenty of informal on-the job training.”
  • “Deep, personalized coaching supplemented with a comprehensive support structure and career-long training. Meritocratic promotion process that is transparent and fair.”
  • “Incredibly accelerated skill development process. Constant pushing of the boundaries of my competence, with sufficient support to make sure I'm not pushed too far. Incredibly thoughtful and valuable trainings.”
  • “Fantastic career support across the board with an open mind around long-term career prospects at Bain and if you want to use Bain as a launching pad to further your career. We have a full support staff that is dedicated to career development and formalized process around helping our associates and consultants think through their long-term career goals.”
  • “I think my firm has made a very significant effort to hire and promote employees from a diverse set of backgrounds/experiences, which is something I really appreciate. The gender equity, in particular, is very impressive, as many of the leaders in the firm (~50%) are women, including a roughly even gender split in new incoming classes. My firm's commitment to creating an inclusive environment is also inspiring, as the firm's leadership has clearly delineated that as a top priority; it is very clear that making every member of Bain feel comfortable and included in the firm is a top priority of management.”
  • “Diversity recruitment and retention efforts score a 10, but we still have room to improve in terms of results. This has been a major focus of the firm and local office and so hope that results come as this continues to be an area of sustained effort.”
  • “Strong diversity initiatives covering all aspects of the employee experience - hiring, training, coaching, promotion, connectivity, and general wellbeing. Diversity groups encompass women, minorities, veterans, LGBTQ.”
  • “I have been involved in the promotion process for [years] and can attest to the fact that all candidates are given equal access to promotion opportunities.”
  • “Top-down priority for firm senior leadership including lots of transparency and also a strong commitment to our diversity groups with global forums and gatherings, mentorship programs, ally programs, unconscious bias and inclusion programs and linkages to compensation and metrics.”
  • “We are not where we need to be in terms of results on promotions for women and underrepresented minorities. But the firm's leadership genuinely wants to address this and has been proactively working on it.”
  • “The firm has protected jobs during this year’s pandemic and is investing for growth and innovation and that is translating to overall growth for the firm despite the challenging macroeconomic year. Employee engagement remains strong and our NPS is at all-time high.”
  • “Our leadership team has blown me away over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. A pandemic was new, but a downturn was not - they had robust playbooks to deploy which has been refined over decades of downturn experience. Ultimately, our swift and client-focused action allowed Bain to get the most out of an unprecedented period. Our business is now looking stronger than ever with a highly positive outlook on our ability to continue to take share based on our pace of innovation.”
  • “I have absolute confidence that my firm is well positioned, primarily for two reasons. First, I think that Bain is a very innovative firm that understands it will need to constantly evolve and meet changing business needs - for this reason, I am confident that Bain will continue to innovate and thrive in uncertain times. Second, leadership is committed to the firm's success (not just individual compensation) in a way that gives me immense confidence in their leadership…business has generally been doing well and continues to demonstrate a strong pipeline”
  • “Pipeline for work feels strong and diverse.”
  • “We define our success based on our clients' success. We ask teams every week to rate their progress at creating value for clients – and take appropriate action. There is a regular process for highlighting the teams that create the most value for their clients (the results challenge).”
  • “High resiliency and relevant to clients in good and bad economic times.”

Why Work Here

At Bain, we work with bold clients who want to define the future, not hide from it. We solve transformative challenges by working alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition.

Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and collaboration is key to building our extraordinary teams. We hire people with exceptional talents, abilities and potential, then create an environment where you can bring your whole self to work.

We know your priorities can shift as your life changes. At every point, we make sure you have what you need for a long, productive and fulfilling career with us.

We never let one another fail. It’s a simple motto, but one we live by every day.

Getting Hired Here

  • “Our firm generally has two rounds of interviews and recruits almost exclusively (though not entirely) current undergraduate and graduate students. The first round consists of two 30-minute interviews, and the second round consists of two 45-minute interviews (with more senior members of the firm). Our ideal candidate meets a number of criteria: they are analytically minded (strong mathematically and show a good intuitive sense for math problems/assessing data), a strong communicator, a structured thinker (e.g., able to communicate and think in an organized manner), and a friendly/down-to-earth person. All candidates that are considered have very strong academic track records and significant extracurricular involvement, along with significant and impressive involvement in past internships/jobs.”
  • “Case interviews are very difficult and are the minimum hurdle to clear. After that, there is a very real selection for people that have positive attitudes, are friendly, and ultimately who will make for excellent colleagues that everyone will enjoy working with.”
  • “We look for smart and personable people. The process is rigorous but very simply structured -- no need to put in effort 'navigating' the process, just apply and follow instructions!”
  • “Ideal candidate is someone who can think critically, communicate effectively, and is intellectually engaged.”
  • “[We look for a] case cracker/problem solver: [someone who] can frame problems, can deploy analytical methods, can tease insights. Lots of EQ: ability to building relationships, empathetic, good listener, leader, teamer.”
  • “[We look for] problem solvers, with creativity and structure and ability to work with others.”
  • “Management consulting case interviews - cases vary, but overall test ability to think critically and communicate clearly/effectively.”
  • “Suppose you wanted to start an ice cream shop. What are the profitability implications?”
  • “Typical questions include market sizing (e.g., how many slices of pizza are sold in the US each year?), broader business case interview questions (e.g., profits at a major automobile company have been declining over the past five years and the CEO has hired us to fix the problem). The interviewee engages in a conversation, asks questions (e.g., ask for data/qualitative information), and ultimately provide a recommendation based on that information and business judgement.”
  • “Typically two rounds of verbal cases - classic case interview questions with a heavy focus on analytics/math.”
  • “Growth or market penetration case studies. Profitability case studies.”
  • “Should we buy this specialty retailer? How can we reduce costs at this non-profit?”

Perks & Benefits