I just finished final round with Bain NY yesterday (Tuesday). I heard they usually get back to you within 24 hours, but they haven't reached out to me yet.
I emailed Bain and they said it will take within 2 weeks to reply. Is it likely that they still extend an offer?
Hi there,
before offer decisions are communicated after the final round, they have to be aligned between HR and the interviewers in the process. This can sometimes take time for various reasons. A few common ones are listed below for a general overview:
I know that this is unsettling and every candidate wants to have clarity on the status sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, you'll always have to wait for the official word. It is legitimate, though, to politely follow up for an update after not hearing back for two weeks.
However, it is best to just assume a rejection and continue with the recruiting efforts with other firms until you have a written offer in your hands. That way you at least won't lose time.
Best of luck
Hello,
I know the wait can be frustrating, but if they say it may take up to 2 weeks, then they may certainly extend an offer in that time. There is a number of reasons for why they may need more than 24 hours - there may be multiple final rounds happening at different points in that period, they might have a paperwork backlog, etc. So there is no need to assume anything until you directly hear from them, it just means they will get back to you within two weeks. Best of luck!
Hi there,
Q: I emailed Bain and they said it will take within 2 weeks to reply. Is it likely that they still extend an offer?
A period of 2 weeks is on the long side after a final. But they said within 2 weeks, so they may follow up earlier.
Sure, you can still get an offer. They probably have a recruiting pipeline to go through, which is why they are asking for that time.
Fingers crossed for you!
Francesco
If they didn't want you for sure they would happily say no asap. So it's neither a good or a bad sign. They just need to take their time.
Hey there ,
The only option is to wait :) sometimes the interviewers are occupied or have gone on leave so it takes time to schedule the calibration session where the interviewers share their feedback and agree on whether they would like to extend an offer to the candidate or not .
Thanks
Hi there,
We cannot say that it is likely. But it certainly does not mean you don't have one! (If you were an easy reject they would have told you).
They are likely working their way through other candidates. There's literally nothing you can do now so try to just not think about it - they will tell you when they have made a decision :)
Dear Anonymous A,
Crossing my fingers for you that when you do hear back it will be with an offer! Try not to fixate on the 24-hour turnaround guarantee that is oft-feted with Final Round interviews. This turnaround time used to be true several years ago, but more and more, I hear about decision times taking longer to communicate.
In my case, it took McKinsey 6 days (if I correctly recall) to communicate my offer, L.E.K. Consulting a full week, and BCG just under 2 weeks. And most people I coach rarely get their offer in 24 hours. It's usually after the 48-hour mark has elapsed.
The good news for you (so far, anyway) is that clear Rejects do not require a lot of deliberation, so it's reasonable to assume you don't fall into this category. The only reason that calls for clear Rejects could be delayed is if the recruiter is the one assigned to handle Reject calls who has then elected to assign them to a certain day of the week to do them in batches.
The likely biggest reason for delays is the pipeline for Decision roundtables. At McKinsey, offers at the Final Round are usually assessed in decision roundtables. A group of colleagues receives the interview assessment notes from the partners and the roundtable (with the partner's participation, where possible) reviews and discusses the candidate's performance against the benchmark and votes the candidate in or out. I know from experience that individual decision cases can run for about 15 - 20 minutes. It therefore follows that if the decision committee in your destination office is only meeting for a few hours per day (or per week) and is working to schedule in the interviewing partners (which is often messy), then these committee processes could be delayed. Add to that an extended pipeline of other cases before yours which require 15-20-minute deliberations and you begin to see why delays can stake up. Finally, there is usually a co-ordination to ensure that your offer paperwork is delivered to you via e-mail as soon as possible after the offer call (usually done by the partner) takes place. If the recruiter is ready to hit Send but the partner is not ready to call, there will also be a delay.
This is how things worked at McKinsey when I was there. I am not certain how they work at Bain, so it is only a guess that there are some similarities. It's not easy to wait (no matter what anyone says), so I would recommend you just hang tight as best you can and try to distract yourself with other things you hopefully have going on. :-)
Hey there,
If they had made their decision (positive or negative) you'd already know. Hence, at the moment the situation is still neutral.
Fingers crossed for a positive outcome!
Cheers,
Florian
Hi there,
For sure. Sometimes it takes a while for the interviewers to get together and arrive at a decision. It doesn't reflect on you as a candidate, but rather on their schedules and time management. Don't worry.
I understand however that it's quite stressful to wait. I also waited for just over a week to receive my McK offer and I found it very stressful.
Best,
Cristian
Same boat — interviewed for NY Tuesday and haven’t heard back yet either. Lmk when you hear back?
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