Besides the fact that management consulting provides tremendous learning experiences for someone like me with little previous business experience, I chose Bain because of the people. Bain is fun, and it's important to me to have a great time when I am working. The people at Bain are also always willing to help, something that has greatly accelerated my learning experience thus far.

My passion is definitely traveling, both the cultural learning side and in the outdoors backpacking. I love hiking, climbing and exploring cultures and languages. Working at Bain has definitely facilitated these passions by offering opportunities around the world.

An example is the eight months I spent in the Madrid office on transfer. Working in a Spanish-speaking environment and living in such a country with a very different business world was one of the best experiences of my life. While I was there, I had the opportunity to work in Madrid, in Barcelona and even for a case in the Paris office.

My favorite recent "case" was actually my six-month stint in the Private Equity Group, working on a variety of diligence projects for a handful of private equity (PE) firms. When I started at Bain, I had no interest in PE, but it proved to be an awesome experience in learning how to prioritize and quickly form informative answers. It was also a great way to see the direct impact of the work I was doing.

A good example was some diligence work we did for a corporate client. At the start of the case, they were certain they were going to buy the target company, which we at Bain were wary of. After a few weeks of intensive and creative analyses, we ultimately showed them all of the hard-pressed items that had to occur to make this a worthwhile investment. Eventually, we convinced the CEO not to buy.

One item that has become an integral part of my experience at Bain has been my involvement in BGLAD, the Bain Gay & Lesbian Association for Diversity. Upon joining Bain, I had no idea that such an organization existed or even needed to exist. But I soon discovered that BGLAD was a great opportunity to network socially, create strong relationships and even take a leadership role in the Bain organization at an early tenure.

My personal success has included my involvement in two key BGLAD initiatives, recruiting and the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index (a self-submitted survey that rates the GLBT-friendliness of U.S. companies). Within my first year at Bain, I was able to take on the oversight of our nationwide undergraduate recruiting activities, building my personal experience in communication both outside and within the organization as well as contributing to the recruitment of top candidates that may not have been aware of Bain's GLBT support.

The second item, the Corporate Equality Index, was a huge success in that I was personally amazed by the support that the Bain offered. Completing Bain's submission involved soliciting the support of the global HR directors as well as numerous other people in the Bain organization. All of these individuals were more than willing to take the time with me, a first-year associate consultant, to review our policies and help improve Bain's approach to GLBT support and general diversity. Through this process, Bain (alongside one other firm) became the first strategy consulting firm to attain a perfect score on this index.

My biggest piece of advice is to be yourself and see how well you get along with the people at Bain. Your experience is much more than just the casework you do and how well you do it. Once you've gotten to know the Bain people, culture and general style, you have the opportunity to jump right in and get involved in the fun, work and community aspects.