[Bain London] Can anyone share insights/experience/advise on behavioral interview (past/forward looking)?

Hi Anney,

Recent candidates I helped at Bain London had questions related to:

• Leadership
• Convincing others
• Teamwork

In general, the standard fit questions you may expect in a consulting interview are:

1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why consulting
3. Why us
4. Give me an example of when you led a team
5. Tell me about a time when you had to convince someone not agreeing with you
6. What has been your major achievement so far when you started something
7. Why should we hire you

Questions about experiences (4, 5 and 6) are standard at McKinsey, but other companies may ask them as well. To prepare those questions, I would recommend the following checklist:

1. Understand the difference between, leadership, impact and drive areas. You can find a link with their differences here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-pei-difference-drive-and-personal-impact-918
2. Identify good stories for each area. Ideally you want to have at least two stories for each area.
3. Use a structure for your story. I would suggest to use the STARR model (Situation, Task, Action, Rational for Action, Results)
4. Identify for each story one sentence clarifying what the story is about and start with it. Think of it as the title of a journal article.
5. Practice live, collect feedback from people listening to you, reiterate until when you get fluent and persuasive

Best,
Francesco

Hey Anney,

There's the 3 "base" questions of "Why Consulting" "Why x company" and "Resume Walkthrough" and then there's the personal story/experience questions. Feel free to ping me and I can show you instructions/templates for the 3 base questions.

In terms of the personal stories...

Step 1 - Categorize the main stories

There are 5-10 "themes" you need to prepare for. i.e. Leadership, teamwork, challenge, etc. Figure out this list and make sure your stories cover this range (PM me and I can provide you with a template for this list)

Step 2 - Create FLEXIBLE stories that cover a range of categories

You need to create 4-6 stories that each cover a range of topics. They need to be powerful stories that can be adjusted and adapted based on the question asked.

One of my "core" or "killer" stories was usable for Initiative, Achievement, Leadership, Challenge, Change of direction, AND Persuasion.

Write down these stories along STAR or similar format...use bullet points

Step 3 - Organize these stories so you know which ones can be used for what and PRACTICE

Make sure you cover the whole gambit. Then, practice getting asked a question and thinking of which stories apply. I can assure you, no-one is coming up with full stories in a few seconds. Rather, they have practiced how to adapt an existing story to the question asked.

Hi Anney, 

basically, the goal for the FIT interview / Fit part is to show the interviewers your critical thinking and problem solving skills and how suitable you are for the job. Behavioral questions can be like:

• Why consulting? / Why company XX? / Why are you the perfect fit for this position?

• Describe a time when you disagreed with a team member

• Tell me about your biggest mistake at workplace

• Name three improvements you made in your most recent position

• Entrepreneurial drive storie

You can find other questions online, just pick some of them and start answering them in a way that makes sense:

• Keep it short (1.5 minutes max)

• Use storytelling techniques (Structure your speech!)

• Try to get the interviewer to participate, e.g. while telling about your experience in place XX, ask them whether he has been there

The more questions you practice, the easier it becomes for you to come up with a nice and suitable answer. 

Hope it helps,

Cheers, 

GB

Here's what I know from a successful candidate I have been coaching who received his Bain London offer last week as an experienced hire.

+ The process is CV-blind to ensure no unconcious bias and so there is no conversation around the CV (I believe this is a recent change)

+ The behavioural interview is a series of 12 hypothetical questions (e.g., if you were managing a team and a deadline was brought forward what would you do, etc.), rather than the classic "tell me about a time you did xyz"

Good luck!

I would echo the comments of those above. The one thing I think that is equally as important as the story itself is the presentation. Behavioral interviews are not only used to help the interviewer get a sense of you, but more importantly to gauge how you'd be like on a team. Therefore it is important that you deliver your stories in a manner that reads as authentic and personable. I always tell my coachees that you want them to come away saying "Wow! I want to work with that person on my team!

Hi Anney, it is usually structured in 4 main areas:
- CV questions, based on relevant achievements of your background
- motivational questions (why you/consulting/Bain)
- personal experience interview, to deep dive into 1 or 2 relevant working/academical experiences
- final questions you have for the interviewer

I have a dedicated session to structure every frequent question and craft impactful stories about your CV. I closely work with MBA candidates and experienced hires to achieve offers at MBB. Feel free to text me for additional info

Hope it helps,
Anto

Hello!

On top of the insights already shared in the post, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 3 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

• Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200
• Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201
• Behavioural questions (ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE) >https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/behavioral-questions-entrepreneurial-drive-fit-interview-preparation-211

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch!