12 rapid-fire questions with Bain & Company about their Internship

Bain & Company is a global top tier management consulting firm which recently acquired Scandinavian consultancies QVARTZ and Vertical Strategy. With offices in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, Bain’s Nordic team works mainly with international and multinational firms located throughout the Nordic region.

We have identified some of the most frequently asked questions about an internship at Bain in the Nordics, and asked Emmeline van der Meij, Nordic Recruiting Senior Manager, to answer them. We also got some personal view points from a couple of former Bain interns, now working as full-time consultants:

 

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1. Do you hire students who do not speak Danish?

 

– Our team in the Nordics consists of colleagues with very different backgrounds, both professionally and personally. Therefore, English is the only language requirement. Knowledge of any of the Nordic languages is a plus, but definitely not a prerequisite.

 

2. Do you only hire students with a high GPA?

 

– We look for talented people and value strong academic performance, but a high GPA can never stand alone. We also look at work experience (if any), extra-curricular activities and most importantly who you are as a person and why you have a passion for management consulting.

 

3. What is the best experience to have before attempting to be an intern at Bain?

 

– Experience that involves heavy quantitative research. Be curious and try out things that you find exciting and challenging. Be willing to learn and develop

 

4. Is the internship only for the summer?

 

– You can apply for an internship any time of the year

 

5. Will I get paid as an intern?

 

– We offer our interns a market competitive compensation based on the compensation of our full-time consultants.

 

6. What is the interview process like?

 

– Our interview process is a combination of case­- and personal fit interviews. You will also get a psychometric test as part of the online application process.

 

7. Do you have a specific CV format you prefer?

 

– We recommend students to upload a one-page CV (ideally in PDF) as well as a cover letter that explains why they are interested in consulting and Bain plus a short personal introduction.

 

8. What about the life as an intern surprises new interns the most?

 

– Being treated as a team member and not an “intern” – and constantly being challenged to provide value to the team. And then how fast you learn and the responsibilities that you get.

 

9. What makes Bain stand out to new interns?

 

– The culture and how down to earth people are. The people working at Bain wants you to grow and learn. We really want you to succeed.

 

10. How many cases does interns practice before the interviews?

 

– Focus on getting comfortable with doing cases. It’s very individual how many that is, but around 15-20 is probably right. Make sure you feel comfortable with the process and actually enjoy solving the case. We recommend reading some case books and can recommend “Case in Point” by Marc Cosentino.

 

11. Is there a specific online material you would recommend using to prepare for the interview process?

 

– Beside case books, keep up to date with the news (Barron’s and WSJ are my must reads). Victor Cheng also has a great YouTube series. Preplounge.com is a nice online source. Find a platform/source that you feel is good and stick with it for a while rather than changing between different sources

 

12. Having a non-business background, is it important to have a business acumen?

 

– Business acumen is essential in problem-solving, and is more important than having a business background. An internship is an opportunity for you to try out consulting and learn a bunch of different things – no one expects you to be an expert

 

Thanks a lot to Bain Nordics and Emmeline for answering the questions!