What Bain & Co.

Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/

Jeff Schmitt
Bain is booming.
Thats the message from Keith Bevans, a Bain & Company partner who leads the companys global consulting
recruiting efforts. In an exclusive interview with Poets & Quants, Bevans shares that Bain has been growing at 15
percent a year over the past two decades. And that means opportunity for gifted MBA prospects.
Last year, we hired more consultants than weve ever hired in the 41-year history of Bain & Company, Bevans
notes. This year, were going to hire more. Well hire north of 400 consultants this yearItll be our largest class to
date.
The chance to work for a firm like Bain is what inspires many applicants to enroll in business school. With 51 offices
in 33 countries, Bain has something for everyone. Employees work in industries like tech, financial services,
consumer goods, and alternative energy. And they partner with firms ranging from Fortune 500s to start-ups and
non-profits. In fact, some analysts maintain that Bain touches 97% of the worlds GDP. And Bains alumni network
which includes eBays John Donahoe and American Express Ken Chenault is second to none.
With such opportunities, Bain is naturally a magnet for the talented and ambitious. But the firms real draw is its
culture. In Glassdoors 2014 Employee Choice rankings, Bain scored the #1 spot among firms with 1,000 or more
employees. A year earlier, Consulting magazine ranked Bain #1 in its Best Firms to Work For listing, with Vault
survey respondents voting it #1 for undergraduate and MBA internships.
And that shouldnt be a surprise when you hear from Bain employees. In November, current and former staffers
posted on Glassdoor a number of insights on what makes Bain so unique. A London consultant lauded their
personal development and training. A New York City consultant cited the amazing people that were described as
incredibly supportive and inspiring. Another New York employee gushed about constantly learning something new,
pointing out that In my first year and a half, Ive gotten to work in over 4 different industries and across practice
areas (strategy, merger integration and PE diligence).
Even Bains management earned a thumbs up, with one Glassdoor respondent commending leadership for its
dedication to doing what was right for the client, and simultaneously trying to protect sustainable work-life balance
and continuously cultivate a fun, connected office/firm culture.
And thats why Bevans encourages students to get to know
Keith Bevans heads up global consultant recruiting for Bain
Bain. A Harvard MBA (with distinction) who holds a masters
in engineering from MIT, Bevans carries an infectious
enthusiasm that belies 18 years with the same firm. In his interview with Poets & Quants, one thing is clear: Bain is
not the place for the buttoned-up or braggart set. Instead, it is a passionate, team-driven culture, where humility is
prized, a global outlook is embedded, career development is highlighted, and a work-family balance is cherished.
That said, Bevans believes you need to experience Bain to see how really different it is. Thats one reason why
Bevans stresses the importance of internships in Bains culture.
It is one thing to read [about Bain] online and its one thing to hear it at a recruiting event, but when students come
and spend ten weeks with us and work on a team, and become part of the office and have an impact on a client,
they really get a sense of what were about and theyre tremendously attracted to itWe put [our interns] on real
projects; we give them real problems; and they work with real clients. And we expect them to have a real impact.

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In the coming year, Bevans anticipates even more summer associate opportunities with Bain. Our intern program is
a really important on-ramp for the consultants that we hire, Bevans points out. We come into the summer associate
cycle with an idea of how large wed like the program. But every single year, every office that finds more people than
they were hoping to will end up extending more offers than they were planning to. In other words, we will hire as
many good interns as we can find. The number of interns is only constrained by the number of quality people we can
find.
And it works. According to Bevans, over 90% of summer associates who receive full-time offers accept them a
higher yield than the Harvard Business School. When it comes to the intern program, Bevans argues, everyone
we can find, frankly, is one less person we need to find in the second year recruiting cycleWell hire as many good
interns as we can find.
Bain actively recruits MBAs at all the top business schools and in the past year has hired 39 out of INSEAD, 22 out
of Northwesterns Kellogg School, 21 out of Columbia Business School, 16 from Chicago Booth, 13 from London
Business School, and eight each from both Virginias Darden School and UC-Berkeleys Haas School, among
others.
So what does Bain look for in prospective employees? What strategies can students use to stand out to Bain
recruiters? And what is expected of MBAs once they arrive at Bain? Check out this far-ranging interview with
Bevans for the answers.
P&Q: What do you look for in a resume and background that many candidates might not consider?
Bevans: When it comes to the resume, there are really three things that we look at that I think are pretty standard,
And students should keep in mind all three areas. First, we do look for some of the quants, such as are they smart?
We look at their major and background and things like that from their education.
Then, we look for some type of professional experience. That doesnt mean they were former consultants or
formerly in professional services. What we do look for is some type of experience in an environment where they
were around other professionals.
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What Bain & Co. Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/2/

Jeff Schmitt

A Bain break room

And the third thing we look for is leadership. The question were testing there is, Can they make things happen? A
good example would be someone who is a leader or officer in a student organization thats been responsible for
delivering an event, a conference or interfacing with companies where life happens, where a caterer doesnt show
up and they have to figure out what to do next and how to compensate for that. Or, there is an issue with
transportation and the speaker is going to be running late. Basically, have they demonstrated the ability to roll with
the punches, compensate, and improvise in real time?
Demonstrating those three things happen to be the core part of what we do, having the analytic horsepower to get
the job done; being able to connect with people in a professional setting on a personal basis; and then being
accountable and knowing that, no matter what, you have to improvise, you have to get things done despite the
unavoidable challenges.
That, at a high level, is what we look for. Keep in mind, its also important to show that they are passionate about
something that theyre doing. That might be a hobby that theyre doing or a project that theyve done professionally.
One of the things thats really a signature characteristic of everyone at Bain is that they are passionate about life,
their work, and, their hobbies. When I think about the people I see working at Bain, they tend to have that kind of
passion and it comes out loud-and-clear in their resumes as well.

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P&Q: What types of clubs or extracurriculars do you see as particularly valuable [for MBAs]?
Bevans: What I would say is back to [third] point: The extracurricular itself is somewhat important, but its not as
important as the experience and the leadership role that they play in those organizations. Its about building your
experience and your track record of actually getting things done. So, for example, you might have a student whos a
member of 20 clubs and say Wow! [theyre] really involved in everything on campus! But theyre so superficial in
what theyre doing within each of those clubs that it almost becomes a fruitless endeavor for them. What we like to
see are students who are committed and passionate about certain things and are getting a lot of experience with the
clubs and extracurriculars that they choose to do. Its about learning to engage with people and having that passion
for something. Its not specific clubs were looking for as much as being committed to something and committed to
making it successful and having an impact in whatever club they join.
P&Q: What kinds of skills does Bain anticipate needing in the coming years that you may not possess
enough of now (Languages, Technical Skills, etc.)?
Bevans: One of the things thats a challenge for my team is, as we continue to grow at 15 percent a year for whats
coming up on 20 years, the underlying need for talent has continued to grow. As the market has continued to evolve,
we are looking for at different sets of skills like the language abilities you mentionedAt a high level, one of the
things that we are looking for is MBAs who are truly global citizens. What I mean by that: They think globally about
problems; that they recognize that businesses are global so they recognize customers are truly different around the
world.
[For example], they realize that working with one organization that has manufacturing in different countries actually
has subtle nuances in how they communicate and how they think about risk, doing business, and thinking creatively
to solve problems. The challenge for us is continuing to find enough people who can really think globally about
problems [that] their clients are trying to solve and engage them in not just the country they choose to join us in but
in any one of our 51 offices around the world. We need people who think about what its like to do business in the
other 50. Thats becoming more of a requirement than I think it was in the past and something that will increase as
time goes on. And thats different to me than saying, Im looking from somebody who can speak different languages
or knows particular technical tools. It is about saying, I need people with a mindset thats truly global. Thats where
we spend a lot of our time thinking about now.
Back to your resume point, its more than just saying that youve been to 50 cities or traveled to five continents. What
were talking about is way deeper than that. Were talking about people who really understand cultural differences
and are tuned in to recognizing and understanding how it affects how we engage as team and how we think about
problems as a team.
P&Q: What advice would you give to students who have their hearts set on working for you? How can they
enhance their job prospects?
Bevans: Despite all of our growth, we still want to encourage people to apply and get to know us throughout the
process. There are a couple pieces of advice that I give to people.
[First], we are continuing to grow and attract people. But we still need to attract as many great candidates as we can
find. A further thing I would say is really take the time to really get to know Bain. Were one of the most recognizable
companies in the world. The problems that were solving for our clients are what youre reading about in the media.
But we have a sense of humility that sometimes understates just how transformational the work that were doing is.
As you get to meet more people from Bain, when you join some of the webinars and live events that were doing on
different MBA campuses, I encourage students to not just hear the presentations. Ask questions, get to know the
individual, and get to know what he or she is working on. That will get them a better appreciation of the type of
challenges were solving and why were getting so excited about the results were getting for our clients.

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Copyright 2016 Poets & Quants, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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What Bain & Co. Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/3/

Jeff Schmitt

A Bain Office

The second thing I would suggest is meet a range of people. Make sure you are getting to know the consultants,
managers, and partners. On a lot of MBA campuses, there are a lot of Bain people that give industry presentations
or come to some of the events that were doing. This year, were did a whole series of webinars that not only
included topical discussions, but also panel discussions. So you can hear people whove done business in different
countries around the world. You can hear how we think about professional development and global mobilityTake
that time to meet a range of people and understand what theyre experienced with.

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Thats on the front end, which is under the heading of, Make sure you know why Bain is different and why its a
special place to work so you know that you are really pursuing a job and a company that will be personally fulfilling
to you.
More tactically, it really is important that you practice your cases with a live person, so that once you decide Bain &
Company is where you want to work that you are successful in the interview process. Whats important, I think, for
students to keep in mind is that its not about cramming 50 case practice sessions into a two week period before the
interview. Its about doing one or two cases per week maybe over a longer period of time so you can let them sink
in, think about them, learn, grow, do some things in the classroom that expand your skill set, try it again the following
week, and then do a little bit over a long period of time and that will really help you prepare for the interview.
P&Q: Recruiting can be a two-way street. What has Bain done to make itself more appealing to MBA
candidates? (i.e. new initiatives being rolled out)
Bevans: From a how do we appeal to MBA candidates standpoint, I think there is a lot of upfront education thats
out there. On a lot of campuses, students are very interested in management consulting and looking to work for a
premium firm like Bain. The challenge is for students looking to transition to consulting, it can be very difficult to
differentiate what makes Bain special relative to some other options that they may be considering.
For a large partof the upfront relationship-building [we do], we run a program, for example, called Connect with
BainIn one of the 51 cities where we have an office, prior to going to business school in the summer, well do this
event. Its a chance for them to meet with the people from Bain and, more importantly, get to hear about the type of
the work that were doing and get a sense for what the industry is and what type of work Bain does. Were not
interviewing people during those sessions or anything like that. But its a good chance for them to plant the seed in
their mind that this could be an exciting career for them post-MBA. Thats one place where weve made a big
investment in recent years that were really excited about. We have well over a thousand people participate in one
way-shape-or-form in that program globally. And were really happy that we got to meet so many great candidates
through it.
Another thing we do thats similar in terms of outreach is that we have a blog #Bain Voices. We have all types of
different people at Bain talking about their passions, some of the things they do on their teamsand some of the
results that theyre getting. Its a very good cross-section of Bain and not just about publishing or intellectual
property. Were talking about how theyre balancing their career and their families and pursuing their passions. We
had one partner write a blog entry a couple of months ago on swimming across the English Channel and talking
about the training and commitment involved in doing that. So its a real neat cross-section of the type of people
youd be working with at Bain.
We do other things. We do some webinars and social media, using Twitter and Facebook. For example, webinars
allow us to connect students with different offices globally. We held a panel discussion [last] week where we had
representatives from different North American offices taking live questions from students in Europe who were
interested in working in the U.S. after business school. The odds of making those schedules work and getting all
those offices in front of those students in person have always been challenging. But were starting to use technology
in ways that allow us to connect with students in a much broader sense.
We feel like once people get to see the impact that were having on our client work and the support we can provide
them when they get here we feel they will choose Bain over their other options. Our challenge is telling that story
and getting to those students early in their process of thinking about what to do next.
P&Q: Could you give us an overview of your MBA recruiting and interview process? What are the steps that
students should expect? How can they make a good impression and stay on your radar?
Bevans: Let me answer that from a two-year standpoint because for a lot of students its a two-year process. Theyll

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come to campus already having met us at one of our connector events, having read a couple of blog posts and
maybe following us on Twitter, where we have a couple of consultants and associate consultants tweeting about just
the day-to-day so you can get a sense of how the job unfolds over the course of several months.
Typically, when you start your first year, we and the schools both agree that you should focus on getting settled into
school. So maybe a month or two into the program, we will have a large event on a lot of campuses that will be a
15-20 minute presentation [that includes] an overview of Bain and how we think about consulting followed by
something that gives you more exposure to jobs like an experience share followed by a reception. That kicks off the
recruiting season.
After that, we do a series of on-campus events, whether they be industry presentations or sharing other pieces of
intellectual property. In addition, well have social events where different representatives from the office are in town
and meeting with students. Weve also made the investment to put one of our consultants on campus with a
significant portion of their time, meeting with students so they make themselves available to do coffee chats in
advance for questions and help people who are navigating the process. So if youre interested in joining our subAfrican office or moving to Lagos or Eastern Europe after graduation, they can connect you with people who may not
have been on campus. So thats an initial push that we make so students know recruiting season has started. They
should be getting to know us and getting connected.
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What Bain & Co. Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/4/

Jeff Schmitt
Bain consultants on an expedition to Antarctica to learn first-hand about the regions fragile ecosystem

Staying on the radar is a tricky question. Its really about building relationships with people youre meeting over time.
As I mentioned, we have the on-campus representatives who are there just about every day. And well have other
people wholl come back to campus multiple times. So students should really build relationships with those folks and
ask the questions they want to know, get introduced to other people, and keep in touch. Where it gets challenging
for some students is that they might interpret that as being particularly aggressive with trying to meet as many
partners as possible and visit offices all around the systemand thats not as helpful as really getting to know the
firm and getting to know the consultants and managers that come to campus.
We meet a lot of students and were always excited about people who are a good fit for Bain. We dont forget the
people we meet. So try not to stress too much about collecting business cards and sending out dozens of emails
after every eventInstead, focus on trying to have meaningful conversations, meeting people, and following up as
appropriate. That tends to keep people on radar. Again, we make such a big investment in getting to know students.
Theyre on our radar. They probably dont need to worry about it as much as they do.
P&Q: What types of onboarding, training and ongoing support do you provide to incoming MBAs?
Bevans: We think the training we provide is one of the areas that differentiates us from other options that students
have. When you start at Bain, you go through about a week of in-office training. At the end of that training, youll sit
down and meet with the person responsible for the consultant program. They handle your entire professional
development including your staffing. And youll talk with them about some of the things that youd like to accomplish
or achieve during your time at Bain, whether it is through an international transfer or work in retail or getting some
experience doing some financial modeling. And that person will work with you and get you staffed on opportunities
and on cases that check those boxes for you over time.
A couple months into your full-time job, youll be sent to one of our global training programs. At NCT New
Consulting Training all the new hires [from offices] around the world will be put into groups of four to six people.
You will have a trainer who is a partner or manager and has taken off for a week to be your trainer. Over the course
of that week, youll work through a simulated case. As part of that simulation, youll get to see how we do analysis,
engage with clients, manage teams, and deal with tricky situations.
At the end of that week, you will have made some great relationships with at least four or five other people from
different offices from across the world. And then you go back to work. Whats really neat about training is two things.
One, we do that type of global training program at every level every 18 months. You get [training] when you start as
a new consultant. Then, 18 months laterwell bring all of your peers together again and youll work on a different
simulation case. Youll see many of those same people Hey, didnt we meet in Miami? Yeah, how is it going?
and well start building those relationships over time because well see each other at different trainings.
Whats really neat for me (personally) is that I went to experience partner training a couple of years ago. And there
were four of us whod been through every training program that theyd offered starting in 1996 and all the way
through. You cant really describe the impact that those relationships have on your career. But we really are a global
firm and it starts right away with our global training program.
The other thing thats really great about our training is that we even do it for the interns. So when we have our global

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summer associate program running, the first thing they do when they join is they get a couple days of office training
and then we bring all of our interns from all of our global offices to a single training session. And they do the same
thing. Over the course of four days, they work in simulated case with a trainer. So they get a taste of what full-time
training programs are like. Its not just something we reserve for people whove been here five or six years. We
literally start our global training with our interns. Its a phenomenal experience and a major investment for the firm.
But we feel that its a really good indoctrination not just into the skills but also into the culture and the global makeup
of the firm that theyre a part of.
P&Q: When it comes to consulting, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that students may have
about your organization (and your industry)?
Bevans: I dont know if there are any misconceptions. Nowadays, unlike when I came out 20 years ago, there is
plenty of stuff online. You can read about it and be pretty well informed.
There are three areas that come to mind. First, we really do strike an awesome balance between being a global firm
with global resources and world class expertise (The types of things were doing today are really cutting edge) and
balancing that with a home office model that allows you to be part of a community that supports, coaches, and
develops you.
That balance, I think, can be hard for some students to appreciate until they experience it or talk to people who are
living it. [Its] the idea that you can be working with multinational clients and teams from around the world. But you
still have that program manager thinking about that conversation [they had with you] at your first week on the job on
the experience you wanted to add and the expertise you wanted to build and then helping you navigate that by the
types of opportunities that the staffing process provides. The fact that were able to balance that so well and that you
can be a successful consultant that is taking advantage of being part of a global firm with all of that experience and
local support is really phenomenal. I dont think a lot of students really think that any firm gets that as right as Bain &
Company does.
The other thing that I feel some students think that probably needs to be adjusted is [the perception] that we are only
looking for a specific profile. We really do hire a diverse set of people. Like I said, Bain has been growing at 15
percent per year over 20 years, which means the sheer magnitude of the number of people that we hire requires us
to have a lot of different backgrounds pre business school and a lot of different degrees. Were looking for people
who are interested in working in all of our 51 offices around the world. And I think some people feel like that if they
lack professional or consulting experience, that its really a long shot and that we wouldnt be interested in someone
with their background. The reality is, our clients are made up of a very diverse pool of executives. And part of the
value they bring to the table is diversity of thought.
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What Bain & Co. Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/5/

Jeff Schmitt
Consultants outside a Bain office

[For example], I have two engineering degrees and I might look at a manufacturing problem differently than
someone with an economics or finance degree, which is different than someone who might have been a teacher
before business school. And together, we will get to a much better, a much more creative and robust answerSo
the perception that were looking for one specific profile? It isnt true. The reality is, were looking for a really diverse
background.
And the third thing and my wife and I talk about this a lot is that you really can have a life outside work. Ive
talked about it a few times already, but the people who really thrive at Bain & Company are people who have a
passion for results, who have a passion for being successful as a team. But they also have other passions outside
of work.
Its really funny to me that you might be having dinner with a group of recruiters and well start talking about hobbies.
Its always fun to see the reactions as people around the table talk about the types of things they do outside of work.
Im thinking of our team in Chicago, for example. One person was a pilot. Another was a sculptor. One made quilts.
One was a photographer. To see students realize that although they are world class experts in their field, they also
have passions outside of work that keep them grounded as people. I think that surprises most people that at Bain
we really do value people who have a passion not just for impact on the client but also for things outside work. It
makes them better at connecting with clients and keeps their balance a lot better that way.
P&Q: What are your expectations for entry level MBAs? What are your most successful new hires doing to
hit the ground running and quickly add value?
Bevans: When I meet students during recruiting, Im keenly interested in not just getting them to say yes and
come join me, but Im supremely in interested in their success when they do start. There are a couple things that
people who hit the ground running really do well.
First, I think they tend to be tremendously hard working. They tend to be reliable, so when they say theyll do the
analysis that you require, you know theyll get it done.
They tend to be intellectually curious. [For example], I may ask you to profile a different set of companies, but one of
those companies appears to have done differentially better than the others. So while what I asked for was the
profile, the best consultants are curious enough to think one or two moves ahead. [Theyre saying to themselves],
Well, if Im going to share the profiles and one of the companies is an outlier, Im going to go ahead and figure out
why that one company is an outlier because thats the next question that youre going to ask me. So they have that
natural intellectual curiosity to understand why, not just doing the task but figuring out why and what does it mean for
my clientSo being hard working and intellectually curious are traits that really help you hit the ground running for
the first six months.
The other thing that I think really differentiates people is that we tend to hire people who have a certain level of
humility that can be difficult to find. We tend to recruit people who were at the top of their class and very successful
professionally before they chose to go back to school and get their MBA. The vast majority have been tremendously
successful at business school. Theyre leading organizations and they had pretty major projects and quite
impressive resumes.

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But Bain & Company is a really hard place to try and be smartest person in the room. What ends up happening is
we have a culture where people want teams to be successful. Its not about personal successIm just as happy as
my team being successful am I am personally touting my own accomplishments. Despite the fact that we hire really
talented and tremendous people, they tend to be extremely humble. They tend to be the type of people who really
want the entire team to be successful; Theyre not out for their own personal success at expense of everyone else.
And the people who quickly figure that out tend to be very successful longer term at Bain.
So [being] hard-working, reliable, and intellectually curious wrapped in a spirit of humility that really allows them to
both drive the long-term and really build the relationships that it takes to get the coaching and mentoring when they
really need it. [Thats how they can stand out early].
P&Q: What excites you personally about working for Bain?
Bevans: I think about that a lotI think being part of a team of supremely talented people who are literally shaping
the world economy through their work that when you talk to them, theyre as down to earth and humble as anyone
youll ever meet. Its really exciting to be a part of a firm that nurtures those types of people that have that type of a
culture where we can do really phenomenal things. We can work really, really hard and yet we can be approachable.
And we can balance the things that were doing professionally with things that were doing personally. And we have
a good time doing it.
I think about our Chicago office: We have people who have a band, Lake Effect, that does gigs around Chicago or
have pretty major folks in the office start a wine club so folks have experience in things that they may not have
experienced otherwise. Or, to see partners around here participating in the sports teams that we have, whether its
flag football or volleyballor even the photography club in the office. To be around a group of people who work hard
and do some really great things, but also enjoy spending time together, thats really rare. And thats really special
about working for Bain.
One more thing: Ive had opportunity to travel and visit 20-25 of our offices over the years. And [the culture] is really
consistent globally. You see that same set of characteristics and traits in every office.
Copyright 2016 Poets & Quants, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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What Bain & Co. Seeks In MBA Hires

poetsandquants.com/2014/12/03/what-bain-co-seeks-in-mbas/6/

Jeff Schmitt

Bain consultants meeting together casually

P&Q: Consulting has seemingly overtaken finance as the destination of choice for MBA grads. Do you
anticipate finance giving you more competition in the coming year (and has the appeal of tech peaked)?
Bevans: What I believe to be true is that the students graduating from top MBA programs today want a couple of
things from that career. Theyve made a big investment of their time. And theyve made a big financial investment in
their own development. And theyre looking for a couple of things. One, theyre looking for a place where theyre
going to be challenged. Theyre looking to work someplace on problems that are not easy. Second, theyre looking to
work on things that have an impact on the world around them. They dont want to toil around in ambiguity. They want
to change something in the business world that they can then read about or they see a difference when they go to
that store the next time, or when they order something or drive passed something. They want to work on something
challenging. They want to have an impact. And they want to be supported. Finally, they want to know that their own
efforts will be magnified by the culture and the support network that they become a part of when they join a
company.
When I put those three things together, I believe that Bain & Companywill rise to the top of their priority list. Other
companies and industries will continue to develop their own value propositions. But weve grown and been
tremendously successful because we have a formula that works. The people who take the time to get to know us
through recruiting see that and are, by-and-large, very attracted to come join Bain & Company.

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Im sure there will be competition, but I feel like were prepared for it.
P&Q: What are your favorite business schools doing differently (or better) to better prepare students?
Bevans: I think those are the schools that really encourage students to be thoughtful about pursuing consulting
and that can [happen] in a bunch of different ways. They host educational events, reach out to us about the needs of
their students; They might call and say, A lot of students are asking about Bain or a certain topic. It would be really
great if at some point during the recruiting season that you could include a down-to-earth discussion on these
particular topics.
Its as much about preparing their students directly
as it is about helping us prepare their students to
make the right decisions for them. Schools that do
that wellwe have a really relationship [with them].
They will call us and say, This just came up or One
of the things were thinking about for next year is
XYZ What do you think about that? It feels more
like a partnershipto get their students the best
possible jobs upon graduation. That is a very
different relationship than, say, being gatekeepers,
where theyre trying to protect the balance of their
students academics and career activities. When it
works well, we really feel like were partners with
schools. By and large, that happens at most of the
schools where we recruit at. In fact, its been great
to partner with them.

Bain consultants making a social impact by promoting sustainability in

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P&Q: Give me an example of a student who really impressed you in the process. (i.e. What is the most
creative or memorable thing someone has done to stand out and impress you?)
Bevans: It is a little bit like what we talked about earlier, where I think that there are certain students who ask good
questions. In other words, theyre thinking about, what would it really be like to work at Bain? They want to know
what the office is like or theyll say, Tell me about the project youre working on? Tell me about your role? Tell me
about how doing that type of work will change between being a first consultant and a third year consultant? One of
the things Id like to do is work internationally, can you connect me with someone who has that type of experience?
Id like to talk about how can I make that happen and how I can think about getting that into my timeline. They ask
very thoughtful questions beyond questions they could generally find on the website.
And they follow through on things. I met several students over the summer who are committed to doing internship.
Id say, Well, let me know how your summer goes and follow up with me at the end of the summer. We should
actually talk about joining us full-time.And a lot of students do follow through. And its great that theyre coming to
us to maintain that commitments and keep that relationship growing. It really helps them stand out because it tells
me that theyre genuinely interested in Bain & Company. And theyre genuinely interested in pursuing a career [in
consulting] as opposed to putting a lot of lines in water and not really thinking about what they want to do post
business school.
P&Q: You hold an MBA from the Harvard Business School. How has that experience informed how you
evaluate and recruit MBAs?
Bevans: I think that from having an MBA myself and watching my peers go through the business school process
it gives our entire team a good sense about [this question]: How can I tell whos really interested in consulting
versus whos not sure what they want to do but they heard [consulting] might offer variety? In some sense, students

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see that there is generally a lot of interest and activity in the consulting presentation and they feel compelled to
apply even though they really havent taken the time to get to know Bain or what consultants do. Why is doing
strategy in a consulting firm like Bain different than doing strategy in a company? Thinking about process
improvement, how is looking at the supply chain at Bain different than working in the supply chain organization of a
company?
Seeing my peers navigate that process and seeing them be successful or not successful or being disappointed or
not disappointed in the outcomes gives me a good sense of, how can I tell which candidates are genuinely
interested in Bain?
P&Q: What question(s) didnt I ask that youd love to answer?
Bevans: You kind of asked it and I probably wouldve added to an earlier answer I gave around some of the things
that have been really great about working at Bain for so long. The impact that we have isnt just the impact on the
corporate community. We do a lot of social impact work at Bain & Company as well. Ive personally worked on
several projects through our Chicago office. We helped found a charter school several years ago at Rowe
Elementary School in Chicago, [helping] with different parts of their operation and their strategy.
If you travel around the system, youll find that every office at Bain is doing something to the benefit of the
community where its in. Again, its one of those things where people arent just passionate about the goals of their
clients and their own personal hobbies, but theyre also passionate about their communities. And you see that type
of value system across all of our offices. And thats been really fulfilling for me and a lot of other people, being part of
those projects and activities over the course of a year. Its just one more thing that I think people at Bain feel real
good about. They dont feel work comes at the expense of having a positive impact on the community. Were
building the skill set of the private and public sector, but we also apply it to the social sector.
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