Pros
Was drawn to Bain because it was clear our thinking about business was clearer and sharper than our competitors. The people at Bain are also great and invested in your success inside and outside the firm.
Cons
Beyond the general challenges of the consulting industry (long hours, advisor vs. operator, capped financial upside), there are a few Bain-specific cons: 1) Bain feels less global and fluid across offices. As a result of the home office model, cross-office staffing and teaming is limited. This model worked when Bain had 10K people, but the firm has grown significantly in recent years. Doesn't make sense to tell people in NA "office choice doesn't matter" and then have industry skews based on offices. 2) Promotion timelines (esp. tol the SM level) are slower than competitors. Granted, SMs at Bain are required to manage larger teams and more scope than McK/ BCG, but the hiring market doesn't really know this and pay is still the same. 3) Lack of public sector work which is very noticeable compared to Mck and BCG. Many, many people are drawn to public sector consulting. Getting burned in RSA and overall senior leadership aversion to this work has stopped any efforts to grow this practice.