Preparing for your interview
At Bain, the interview process for Advanced Degrees is comprised of case and experience interviews.
Advanced Degree candidates should invest in case prep and draw from their unique background when preparing for interviews.
A case interview is likely different from any interview you have experienced before. It is a real business problem, similar to the ones Bain teams work on with our clients. On top of basic preparation and reviewing our consultant crack the case tips there are additional things you can do to prepare:
- Join a consulting club: consulting clubs are a great way to prepare for case interviews as they offer case prep workshops and an opportunity to practice with other students. A number of universities have graduate student consulting clubs. If this does not exist in your school, check if you can join the business school consulting club. Many clubs are open to students from other schools.
- Use case books: the more cases you are exposed to, the better you will grasp the idea of cracking a case. There are many books on the market, as well as books offered by consulting clubs which collect cases from students who interviewed with consulting firms.
- Learn basic business terms: while cases are not vocabulary quizzes, it will be beneficial to you to be familiar with basic business terms and business news. Of course, if a term is not familiar to you during the interview, be sure to ask your interviewer what it means. Check out our transition to consulting page for details on recommended business sources.
An experience interview provides the opportunity to get to know you better and for you to present yourself and why you are interested in working at Bain.
One mistake many Advanced Degrees make is not to prepare for the experience interview. As a starting point, review the list of qualities Bain looks for in an ideal candidate. Then, collect stories from your past experience and practice explaining how they helped you develop the skills we look for. These need not be business experiences. For example, you may share problem solving skills in a legal case you worked on in a law firm, leadership qualities you developed in leading a research project or passion you exhibited in one of your extracurricular activities. Practice answering questions which will test these qualities and prepare answering quickly and confidently.
You will need to show your motivation and explain your reason for transitioning to business and specifically to consulting and Bain. Take time to research Bain and the work we do so you will be to able to effectively articulate your thoughts.
Good luck!
