What's the best Bain office in US?
Gonna apply for Bain's Associate Consultant Intern position in the US next year and I need to choose my top 3 office locations. I'm currently thinking San Francisco, Chicago and New York but tbh I have no idea about the pros/cons, strengths, niches etc. of each office (I live and study outside the US). Boston and LA sound cool too.
Can people share their thoughts or experiences with the different Bain offices. Which ones have the best culture and work? Which ones are the most competitive? Should I apply to a smaller city to maximise my chances of getting an offer? Are the US offices receptive to overseas applicants?
Would appreciate any info about any US offices :)
Incoming AC to a big northeast office. Don’t do the “apply to a smaller office to improve your chances” move. I did this for two years, and never got an offer, then applied to an office I really wanted to be at (even though it was more competitive) and got an offer. Apply where you really want to be.
Pick the offices you want to work in. Smaller offices have less spots open and they're pretty good at sniffing out people who try to game the system
The one where you want to live or have a connection to (school/family/friends).
If you have an idea of what industries/functions you want to work in (and are location-agnostic otherwise) check out the partners in each location on Bain's website. They are who you'd be working with as Bain has local office staffing
also agree with diligencing the industry mix of the offices youre looking at, in terms of the partners and their practice areas - this is where Bain is in fact very different from MB
otherwise, i've heard great things about bain sf, ny, and bos. it truly depends on what you want to do and where you want to be
Former Bainie here. To be honest the differences between offices aren't that big, and you should 100% choose based on where you want to live, but if you want the quick soundbite on each office here's what I can tell you:
New York: Probably work the hardest of any US office given NYC work culture. High-caliber talent
SF: Work less than NY because they have to compete with tech. High-caliber talent
Boston: Work hard but not quite as hard as NYC. Known as the "culture center" of Bain given it's HQ. High-caliber talent.
Chicago: Pretty similar to Boston in most ways, maybe a notch lower on perceived talent. Known internally for great culture.
LA: Similar to SF office (a bit more relaxed) except again maybe a notch lower for perceived talent.
DC: Pretty average on all dimensions.
ATL: Smaller office, but known to be tight-knit.
Texas offices: Similar to ATL with obvious case focus on O&G / Airlines. All the good and bad of Texas culture comes with it.
SEA: New, smaller office. Cool projects in tech though with fun culture.
Really helpful stuff here, much appreciated! Any insights into how long you should stay at an office for before attempting a switch? I am going to one of the major offices after I finish my MBA this fall, but in all honesty I kind of wish I was going to a different office. However, with the home office recruiting, I felt like I had to pick one office and stick with it. I did not intern at Bain, I did something different, so this is my first experience at Bain. Thx so much.
NY
You should optimize for 1) personal ties to the region and 2) industry mix preference. Offices like LA, DC, ATL, TEX are going to have a more focused industry coverage given smaller size and local economies.
Industry mix of Bain offices is more of a function of what Partners are in the office than where the office is located. I recommend looking up the Partners in each office and what industries they cover.
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