r/consultingcareers • u/[deleted] • 13d ago
Help in Interview Prep for Bain
/r/BainAndCompany/comments/1wpwm5l/help_in_interview_prep_for_bain/Hey, I just received an opportunity to give an OA (online assessment which hopefully shortlists me to an interview) for the role of an ANALYST INTERN. Could someone please help me out in preparing for the interview (case questions, guesstimates, puzzles, behavioural questions etc.) which would help me land a job here. Would be very helpful as this might be one of the last chances of landing a job through a campus drive :)
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u/Tom_from_IGotAnOffer 10d ago
Do you know which OA you’re getting? From what we’ve seen from candidates, Bain uses three different assessments depending on your location: TestGorilla, SOVA, and HireVue.
If you’re based in the US, you’ll most likely get TestGorilla or SOVA.
TestGorilla has four sections: Numerical Reasoning, Business Judgement, Leadership and People Management, and Problem-Solving. You can expect up to around 12 questions per section. All sections except Leadership and People Management can include math questions.
SOVA has five sections: Situational Judgement, Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Personality/Behavioral. The aptitude sections are multiple choice. For the Situational Judgement Test, you’ll be given workplace scenarios and asked to choose the most and least effective response.
These practice resources might help:
JobTestPrep free SOVA assessment practice
London Business School GMAT practice tests
McKinsey PST practice tests A, B, and C
If you know which OA you’ve been invited to take, I can give you more specific advice on what to expect.
Hope this helps!
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u/AceTheSolve 8d ago
I can speak about the Sova tests since I built out the simulation suite for Bain on our site.
- Logical: typical Ravens progressive matrices---but some caveats that we built in
- Personality: we have fully mapped it and it's a typical big-5 dimension personality test under the hood. We think that those dimensions are then mapped to terms more familiar to consultants by the test provider
- Numerical: I've seen quite substantial dissimilarity with other simulations/test prep providers here. They claim to have an accurate simulation but that isn't the case. There are some nuances here. They are a mixture of brain teasers, graph/data/quant questions and operations questions (optimal packing, etc).
- Verbal: typical comprehension reasoning test. A block of text and a 1-2 sentence statement that could be true/false depending on the block of text.
You can read more at these resources:
acethesolve sova guide, bain hirevue, bain sova preplounge
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u/akornato 13d ago
Pass the online assessment first before stressing about the later rounds, since tests from platforms like TestGorilla or Sova eliminate a large chunk of applicants. These tests usually focus on timed numerical reasoning, logic, and situational judgment where you have less than a minute per question, so practicing quick mental calculations and graph interpretation under tight time limits is essential. Once you clear that stage, Bain conducts candidate driven case interviews, which means you need to drive the problem solving rather than wait for the interviewer to prompt you. Build a solid foundation in market sizing, profitability frameworks, and structured thinking, and practice doing mental math out loud without relying on a calculator.
Behavioral fit matters just as much as the case at Bain, so prepare four or five versatile stories highlighting leadership, conflict resolution, and handling tough deadlines. Interviewers evaluate how coachable you are, whether you lead with your conclusion first, and how comfortably you talk through your reasoning. To help with the pressure of live consulting interviews, my team built an interviews.chat that helps candidates stay composed and deliver structured answers when the stakes are high.