Bain & Company reviews

Difficult, lengthy, and needlessly tedious expense system. Limited opportunity for career advancement for senior admin.

- Lots of cases that continue to roll and PMO cases seem common (trying to sell "programs" not "projects" to clients) -- results in lackluster PD opportunities or fewer case experiences - Little to no control over the cases that you get on (especially in smaller offices due to the office-based staffing model) - No ability to specialize at all (while many go into consulting to do many different things, at a certain point you will realize that you love certain topics and hate others and want to have some degree of focus) - Review methods are flawed. Small, non-consequential incidents are frequently cited as examples in reviews, and the review process always feels like a lot of last minute crunching. - Culture that places too much emphasis on Associate Consultants to bring "energy" and "culture" to the teams. What's the point in doing so if one coordinates everyone's schedule to plan a team event that no one ends up showing up to or is late to -- on top of all of the other work? - Weaker in certain areas vs. BCG or McKinsey (e.g., healthcare, social sector). PEG is overhyped. - Culture can feel overly "fratty" as expected by a young firm -- one can feel looked down upon for not attending social events are not wanting to get as "crazy" as others - Getting promoted to the post-MBA position seems quite rare vs. BCG or McKinsey, where a large number of entry levels are direct promoted.