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Vault’s Verdict

Year after year, when the reviews come in on our annual survey, Bain & Company is always in the upper echelons of our quality of life categories. And for good reason: this is a firm that truly focuses on employee experience as a key differentiator.

That doesn’t mean it’s leaving anything on the table when it comes to the quality of its work: the firm is also at the pinnacle of the industry when it comes to types of projects, client prestige, and brand recognition. In short: Bain walks the walk in everything it does.

Small wonder, then, that insiders seem delighted with their lot, from best-in-class training and support to client exposure, and promotion opportunities. Compensation? Yep, that too.

Of course, no firm is for everyone. The best advice we can offer is to talk to as many people inside the firm as possible to get a sense for whether it’s the right for you. If it is, and you have the chops to make it, the possibility of a big future awaits.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

  • “A fantastic, developing and rewarding place to work with a stellar culture.”
  • “Excellent culture and compensation.”
  • “I feel privileged to be part of a firm that has such great intents and unquestionable integrity amongst people.”
  • “Unlimited opportunities and stretch with support.”
  • “We are all shaped both by those we work with and the culture of organisation we are part of. In the interview process, make sure you are investing to learn about and get to know the Bainies you are interviewed by or can network with. Ask yourself—whether it is for Bain or another firm—‘are these the type of people I enjoy working with, feel inspired by, and am comfortable becoming?’”

Quality of Life

  • “Best: a lot of effort on ensuring sustainable work/life balance with extensive monitoring and actions for individuals and for the firm. Worst: as with all client service, when there is a client deadline we respond and so can be intense at certain periods.”
  • “It is a tough job with many hours, but it is also always focused on really critical issues that you feel a passion about solving. It is easy to discuss shorter and longer time off, and the firm both prioritises highly and stretches far to give people time off.” 
  • “Lots of flexibility and resources to make sure people can find their work-life balance. Hours can be long and intense, but we all operate with the ambition that these can be managed to assure the best working conditions for all.”
  • “Still highly bespoke approach to each project. Great results/outcomes, but sometimes not very leveraged.”
  • “Work is intense and sometimes there are long hours but it’s much better to with people you like to work with and a great culture such as the Bain one.”

Career Development

  • “Amazing opportunities to work across sectors and geographies, always supported by formal and informal training. Promotion process is both rigorous and holistic across multiple dimensions.”
  • “Extremely structured approach and system around professional development.”
  • “Great career development and very transparent in timing and process.”
  • “Outstanding opportunities to have an impact on great clients while learning a lot.”
  • “Very clear and meritocratic evaluation and promotion process, clear intent to add diversity and opportunities to all groups.”

Compensation

  • “Brilliant bonus.”
  • “Compensation is excellent. The firm on the margin though can be quite short-term oriented. Multi-year strategic investments, without immediate payback, are hard at Bain.”
  • “Pay equality is guaranteed as far as I can tell.”
  • “Performance linked variable comp creates a meritocracy.”​

Community Engagement

  • “Exceedingly supportive to diverse people.”
  • “Great in terms of women and big strides on race and ethnicity and LGBTQ+.”
  • “Leadership and firm have not just a genuine commitment to DE&I, not just lip service or a wooly objective, but a very explicit plan, with targets, tactical actions (recruiting awareness, monitor of promotion and retention rates, mentor and sponsor for minority groups, flexible work available to all, extended and equal parental leave) and public tracking and reporting of performance.”
  • “The DEI efforts deployed at Bain are substantial and, even more important, genuine.”
  • “We have specific affinity groups for all of the above stated diversity classifications.”

Business Outlook

  • “Best is quality of people, worst is being smaller than BCG and McKinsey.”
  • “Our high market share in private equity consulting brings associated challenges.”
  • “Strong momentum in my region, with a solid series of client wins.”
  • “Very confident in Western/Central Europe.”

Hiring Process

  • “Interview and callback process is relatively straightforward. Interviewees know the result at the end of the interview, and our recruiting teams follows up periodically if an offer has been received. We typically encourage offer recipients to keep an ongoing discussion with their interviewees or other people at the company to make sure they can raise questions and make an informed decision.”
  • “Smart, humble and client ready.”
  • “We are looking for highly intelligent, driven individuals.”

Interview Questions

  • “Describe the impact of GenAI in the auto industry.”
  • “How many gas stations are in Chicago?”
  • “Personal fit, case interviews—all relatively standard.”
Bain & Company Europe

40 Strand
London WC2N 5RW

Firm Stats

Employer Type: Private
Worldwide Managing Partner: Manny Maceda
2021 Employees (All Locations): 12,000

Major Office Locations

64 offices worldwide

Affiliated Companies
Major Departments & Practices

  • Agile
  • Cost Transformation
  • Customer Experience
  • Learning & Development
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Operations
  • Organization
  • Private Equity
  • Procurement
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Strategy
  • Sustainability & Responsibility
  • Transformation
  • Aerospace & Defense
  • Automotive & Mobility
  • Aviation
  • Consumer Products
  • Energy & Natural Resources
  • Financial Services
  • Forest Products
  • Paper & Packaging
  • Healthcare
  • Infrastructure & Construction
  • Machinery & Equipment
  • Media & Entertainment
  • Metals
  • Private Equity
  • Real Estate
  • Retail
  • Social & Public Sector
  • Technology
  • Telecommunications
  • Transportation