BAIN SEA Actively Recruiting

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, I would highly advise you to only apply to the offices where you are interested in living. In my opinion, there is no point in applying to offices and cities that you cannot imagine living in.
• Moreover, Bain, like most major consulting firms, seems to give you the opportunity to apply to different offices with one application, so you can still spread your chances across different offices.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming Bain applications, pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

I would suggest considering the following approaches:

1. If you have connections at any of these offices, reaching out to them can be helpful. They may provide insights into hiring needs and whether recruiting is managed at the office or regional level, which could influence your decision. Also I think HR and recruiter are typically separate team, so you might want to find out who are recruiters for those offices (maybe try linkedin?)
2. Larger offices generally have higher hiring quotas, but they also tend to be more competitive.
3. If you're still unsure which office is actively hiring, I wouldn’t recommend choosing randomly. Instead, consider selecting a location where you would feel comfortable living for a few years.

Hopefully this helps. 

Hi,

Sharing my perspective having worked in SEA for ~8+ years.

For BCG, how it works is that you can rank your top 3 office choices in the applicaiton. I would think its very similar for Bain (my coachees who interviewed in SEA were non SG hires so it was more specific for them, but I can easily check on the process).

In general - unless you are Singaporean or PR, it would be very difficult to work in Singapore. Most of the demand now is from JKT/KL/HCM/MNL.

Hi, based on my experience, regional recruiting like Bain’s SEA initiative often uses a general application portal to streamline the process across several offices, so if HR hasn’t specified a particular country, it may well be a centralized system where applications are matched to needs; I’d suggest applying through the portal while indicating any specific location preferences in your cover letter, as this might help direct your application to a region with higher demand, and if there's any additional information you need or further questions, please feel free to reach out. Best, Alessa

Hi there,

That's great - I remember that they closed applications completely in the region for 2024.

I would try to get a hold of HR in any of the countries before applying and discuss it with them (that's their job after all).

All the best,

Florian

Hey there, 

I recommend you only apply to the offices that you would want to live in. You should be to apply to have (up to 3) options to choose from in the SEA region.

And for any questions or doubts you may have, it would be good to clarify them with recruiting and see how best they advise you to navigate

All the best! 

I just applied from that post also, here are my opinions:

1. Which offices are hiring: Based on my knowledge, the Manila office recently hosted the final round of interviews. The Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and Jakarta offices are currently recruiting, though I am not sure about the Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur offices.

2. Applying to a "high demand" office: I don't think it is a good option, especially if you are not from SEA. It is my understanding that Bain SEA operates as a cohesive team, meaning staff from the Manila office can work on projects in Thailand. Additionally, the consulting environment has not significantly improved (both McKinsey and BCG SEA have faced pipeline issues and have reduced staff under the guise of performance evaluations). Apart from the Singapore office, which has a higher application standard, you likely have an equal opportunity in other offices (assuming you are not from SEA), since there is no urgent need from them.

As of my last update - Bain SEA is actively recruiting in all offices. However, for most junior positions, you will need to have a link to the office you are applying to. This would generally mean a right-to-work in that country or some extensive experience and presence in the country where the office you are interested in would be based. 

I would not suggest applying to random SEA offices. You have an option to express interest - so picking the offices where you have a clear link to would be most prudent. 

Happy to jump on a call to speak more and support with case practices and interviews. 

Hi there,

Do you have any connection to any of the SEA countries, e.g., you grew up / studied / worked / lived in one or more of the countries? I wouldn’t recommend select “random” office, as the recruiting team would want to see some logic / reason why you apply to the office. They might still propose alternatives according to the office needs, but that’s another story.

Best,
Emily