FAQ

YOUR APPLICATION WITH BAIN

In addition to an excellent academic record at a university and outstanding analytical skills, you should have gained some international and practical experience. In our interviews, we’ll also look for strengths such as structured thinking and the ability to identify problems and find appropriate and viable solutions.

You can apply for direct entry or an internship at any time. We do not have an application deadline. However, in order to be able to respond to your wishes in the best possible way and to design the process optimally for you, please note the lead time of around six months for direct entry as well as six months for an internship.
We process your application immediately after receipt and you will usually receive feedback from us within two weeks of receipt of your application.

Yes, you’re welcome to apply to any office in the Bain network. Our online application form  has a section where you can indicate your office preferences. Should you opt for an international office, please upload your application documents in English.

If you start directly after completing your bachelor’s or master’s degree, you always start with us as an associate consultant. We enable you to work on a variety of projects in your first years of work, so that you can better decide in the long term which area you want to specialize in. Of course, we take your preferences into account when selecting a project. If you consciously want to specialize in a certain area right from the start, this is basically also possible with us, but will be decided on a case-by-case basis. If you already have significant professional experience, direct entry into a specific area is common, but not a must here either.

We certainly do! We look for capable and qualified people from all fields. It is important to us to have a mix of different academic backgrounds in our firm, so we can provide clients with consulting services at a high level of expertise.

Absolutely. Depending on the type and duration of your professional experience, you’ll probably start at an advanced career level.

Please use our online application form  only. The online process allows you to put together all the data you need, conveniently and without time pressure, and upload all relevant documents

We kindly ask you to submit your documents in English. If you have documents that are not in English, you are welcome to submit them in the local language. If you’re interested in one of our international Bain offices, we’ll need all documents in English.
No. Please enter your grades in the grade scale of the country in which you obtained your degree.

It may occasionally happen that one of the positions is not available for selection in the online form. In that case, please select another position for the time being. We’ll adjust the level later.

All contacts, including their areas of responsibility, can be found here.

Receipt of your application will be confirmed as soon as possible. If you apply for one of our offices in the DACH region, a reply will usually be sent within two weeks after receipt of the application (Germany and Austria) or after completion of the online assessment (Switzerland). Should you have applied for an international office, it may take longer to process your application. If you have any questions, feel free to contact up with us. Please note that we can only provide information on applications in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Our recruiting days take place regularly. We’ll make sure we set the dates so as to accommodate your needs.

The selection days for interns are now completely virtual. The process for permanent entry consists of a virtual round and final on-site discussions. You will receive further information on the interview process from our recruiting team if you are invited.

Our advice to you is, practice as much as you can! To prepare for the case interviews, it is particularly important to look at structuring approaches and to practice mental arithmetics and business judgment approaches. Also, it’s always a good idea to take a look at major newspapers and keep yourself updated on developments.
Some case studies to work on are available at our international website. In addition, many of our applicants use training portals such as Squeaker or PrepLounge.

Yes, we’ll be happy to receive another application at a later date. For best results, you should have gained more practical experience and/or won academic achievements by then. In our experience, clear and visible personal development takes a minimum of 12 to 18 months.

Unfortunately we have to decline that. Since our clients' data are confidential and may not be used for other purposes – not even in disguised form –, we do not supervise academic theses.

To apply to one of our business functions, we ask you not via our online form. If you are interested in a job in our business functions areas, we ask you to send your application directly to the contact person named in the respective job advertisement. You can find all current job advertisements here.

Working at Bain - permanent entry

Our Associate Consultant program enables you to develop further academically. You’ll be able to take a one- to two-year sabbatical during which we support you financially.

We pursue a generalist approach. This means that after starting as an associate consultant or consultant, you will first gain general experience in various areas. Later, as a manager, you can specialize in individual industries. If you consciously want to specialize in a certain area right from the start, this is basically also possible with us, but will be decided on a case-by-case basis. If you already have significant professional experience, direct entry into a specific area is common, but not a must here either.

In principle, we have promotions several times a year. How long it actually takes for you to move to the next level depends on your performance.
At each level, we offer specific training programs to help you prepare for the next higher level.

Usually not. Our ultimate goal is to meet the needs of the customer in the best possible way. That is why our consultants are usually fully dedicated to a single project.

Sure. We’ll always try to accommodate your preferences as best we can. That said, the assignment of our consultants to client projects also depends on our firm’s current business situation and the skills and experience required for the respective project.

We certainly do. In fact, we have various flex-time models that can be adapted to your specific situation. Working part-time on client projects is possible, as well as taking on an internal role. On principle, our consultants are free to take unpaid leave at any time.
To grant you the best possible support in balancing your work schedule with your family’s needs, we have an ongoing cooperation with various agencies that can help you organize things such as childcare.

Each of our consultants has a “home office.” Usually that’s where we’ll spend our Fridays – our “office day” – doing our client work and seizing the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with colleagues working on other projects.

We have regular female events in Germany that are specially organized for our female colleagues. In addition, our consultants take part in various female training courses.

It is an essential part of our value system as a firm that we make a contribution to society beyond our everyday work. That's why we advise various non-profits, especially social entrepreneurs, on a pro-bono basis. At regular intervals we host our Community Impact Day: On this day, Bainies from all German-speaking offices work at various social institutions in their respective regions.

In addition, each of our offices offers lots of opportunities for volunteering. At the Munich office, for instance, we have BAGSI (Bain Admin Goes Social) – an initiative aimed at supporting socially vulnerable groups in society, which originated from a personal project.

Working at Bain - internship

The ideal duration for an internship is ten to twelve weeks. For doctoral candidates, we expect a time frame of twelve weeks.

The availability of internships abroad depends on the respective location. Please refer to the relevant country's career pages for more information.

We usually manage to select a project that’s an excellent match with your preferences in terms of industry and topic.

In any case. If the internship makes you want more, we look forward to receiving your application for a permanent position. We accept outstanding interns into our internship support program, the Springboard, immediately after the internship.

Springboard is our intern development program. Acceptance to the program is a particular distinction – we only accept interns whose performance has been outstanding.

The biggest advantage of the Springboard is a much shorter direct entry process. In addition, you are invited to various events, from the office event to your own springboard event, you will receive regular information about Bain as part of a newsletter and you can a personal mentor choose.

Bain-events

As a rule, there are no costs for you when participating in our (inter)national events. We’ll organize your accommodation and meals, as well as your travel to and from the event.
If you attend one of our local university events, we’ll let you know in advance whether and to what extent we’ll reimburse you for any costs incurred.

First and foremost, to get to know us and find out what makes us tick – and also to

  • exchange ideas with other students and PhD candidates,
  • learn about another career perspective,
  • learn what management consulting at Bain is all about,
  • get professional input on an interesting topic,
  • work on a complex task with Bainies,
  • grow through workshops and personal feedback.
We do not evaluate candidates, but we would like to stay in contact with students who make a positive impression on us professionally and personally – for example with Exceed. This is our program for students and doctoral candidates on the fast lane.
Exceed is our talent program for students and doctoral candidates on the fast lane. Members benefit from numerous benefits, such as an interview guarantee, a personal mentor and lots of networking opportunities with consultants and members of the recruiting team. You cannot apply for Exceed, we will contact you after you have participated in one of our events.