The first year at Bain is like 'training for the Navy SEALs.' Here's how to be successful at the consulting firm, according to a recruitment director and a former employee.

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Bain & Company is known as one of the best places to work.
New hires at the consulting firm spend their first year learning the "Bain way" by attending grueling training sessions that involve real cases and team exercises.
Business Insider spoke with former Bain consultants and the company's recruitment head on exactly what to expect during your first year on the job.
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A consulting job at Bain & Company can be intense — especially during your first year.

MBA graduates flock to the consulting firm, where they can earn a $165,000 base salary. The 47-year-old company frequently lands a top spot on national workplace rankings like Glassdoor's Employee Choice Awards (the firm has been in the top four for the last 12 years), and earned diversity honors from Mogul and Human Rights Campaign.

The consultancy invests in molding new hires to learn the "Bain way," teaching both technical and soft skills before assigning rookies to big name clients. This year, Bain welcomed 600 hires and 200 interns, all of whom will receive extensive training, the company shared with Business Insider.

Davis Nguyen, a former Bain employee and founder of My Consulting Offer, a career coaching company, said the first year at Bain can be challenging as you get acclimated to the company's way of approaching client cases and team projects. However, he stressed that it will also be one of your most memorable years.

"They don't expect you to be a rock star from day one" he said. "They don't rush you and really invest in you as an important asset to the company."

Business Insider asked Nguyen and recruitment head Keith Bevans about what life is like at Bain during the first year. Here's exactly what you need to know.

Onboarding is like the Navy SEALs

Nguyen, who joined Bain as an associate consultant in 2015, shared that his onboarding process was broken down into three parts.

The first part of the onboarding process involves the HR logistics — a rundown of the company's mission, accessing your benefits, and filling out forms. The company also has experts come in to teach employees how to build Excel models, how to present PowerPoint slides, and a training session on the appropriate etiquette for talking to a CEO, he said.

New employees spend two weeks on basic office training before flying out to a global offsite boot camp for another two weeks. Nguyen, and 120 others, went to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The former consultant described his offsite training as similar to "The Hunger Games" or Navy SEALs training — both of which involve teamwork and grueling tests.

"We have a motto, 'A Bainie never let's another Bainie fail,'" Nguyen told Business Insider. "We all work together from entry-level associate consultants to senior partners. I think that is what makes Bain's culture what it is — that we all work together to achieve a goal and make everyone around us better."

Nguyen explained participants are paired up into small teams, and they work on real case problems that the company has already solved. In 14 days, the "Bainies," or what the company calls their employees, learn technical skills building financial models and making PowerPoint slides. They also develop the interpersonal skills to manage others, collaborate in a team, and learn how to ask for help, he added.

You can take on more responsibilities — but only if you're proactive about it

By the time you're ready for your first official assignment, you have the option to pick mentors, according to Deborah Kay, a former Bain consultant who shared her onboarding experience in a Quora thread. You're also assigned a manager and a team.

Though employee performance is reviewed on a six-month basis, Nguyen explained that you can operate on your own and even lead a project if you want.

Som Sawani, a 12-year employee and partner at Bain, previously told Business Insider that employees are encouraged to take control over choosing the trajectories of their careers, or "build your own Bain."

In fact, the consultancy's flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit remain common themes within offices — from regular coaching sessions to an open floor plan office design, where employees can work wherever they feel most productive.

"You're going to have more interaction with clients, with teams, and you might actually be lucky enough to get an intern to work for you," Nguyen shared.

You'll have a 'specialized' division in two to three years

In an interview with Business Insider, recruitment head Keith Bevans explained that the company hires people as general assignment consultants and develops them into leaders later on.

"We don't expect you to pick a practice and focus area in your first year, and that is an entirely different [hiring] strategy than other firms," he said. "We actually want you to see a lot of different industries and then change over time."

Consulting is a broad term. Most big firms have several divisions — like strategy consulting and operations consulting — that are formed based on the types of clients and case problems you'll tackle.

Nevertheless, picking your focus area shouldn't be a top priority at Bain (at least not yet).

Bevans explained that employees are evaluated under three criteria: Problem-solving skills, communication, and teamwork. Where you exceed and fall behind in these areas will ultimately affect your consulting focus and job title in two to three years, he added.

"When you show the proficiency in those three areas at a high level, you get promoted," he said. "That doesn't mean that you get promoted on a fixed timeline. It just means that your specialization becomes more important the more senior you get."

Consultants play multifaceted roles, and Bevans urge employees to work towards being versatile and a well-rounded team player.

"What our growth means to me is that I'm hiring really great people, but I'm investing in them like crazy," he said. "We all have a mutually aligned goal — and that's growth. It's a virtuous cycle for us."

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