What does Bain look for in candidates today? How is AI changing consulting recruiting and client work? And what actually differentiates top applicants in an increasingly competitive market?
In this episode, Keith Bevans, Partner at Bain & Company, joins Strategy Simplified for an inside look at the future of consulting recruiting, leadership, and talent development.
Topics include:
- How Bain evaluates candidates beyond technical performance
- The evolving role of AI within consulting
- What makes candidates stand out in today’s recruiting environment
- Leadership, communication, and long-term career growth
- The future of consulting recruiting and professional development
This conversation offers practical insight for aspiring consultants, MBA candidates, career switchers, and professionals navigating today’s consulting landscape.
Episode Highlights
- What Bain looks for beyond resume pedigree
- Why EQ and communication matter more than ever
- How AI is influencing consulting work and recruiting
- Breaking into consulting without a referral
- The evolving consulting hiring landscape
- Leadership traits that differentiate top candidates
Who Should Listen?
This episode is designed for:
- Candidates preparing for consulting recruiting
- MBA students and career switchers exploring consulting
- Professionals interested in the future of consulting and AI
- Advisors and mentors supporting consulting candidates
Key Quotes
- “AI is helping teams get to answers faster, but the answer isn’t the hard part.”
- “The hard part isn’t getting to an answer - it’s mobilizing an organization to act on it.”
- “This is still a relationship-driven business. You have to engage with people like a human being.”
- “I want to see what impact you had, why your contribution mattered, and how you made a difference.”
- “Yes, you need IQ - but you also need EQ.”
Related Resources
- Bain's upcoming consulting application deadlines
- Bain job openings
About Keith Bevans
Keith Bevans is a Partner at Bain & Company and a leader within the firm’s global recruiting organization. He has played a key role in shaping Bain’s approach to consulting talent, leadership development, and recruiting strategy.
About Bain & Company
Bain & Company is one of the world’s leading management consulting firms, advising organizations across strategy, transformation, private equity, technology, and organizational performance.
Transcript: Inside Bain Recruiting
Jenny Rae:
Thank you, everyone, for joining. I’ve often heard people say that they’re not even sure they could get into the university they went to if they applied today. I often wonder that about Bain for me too. It’s become increasingly competitive. But my love for the firm has only grown over the years.
So I’m really excited to have Keith here. We’re going to get into some pretty serious shenanigans on the call today. But our goal is 100% truth, super insightful conversation, and a real deep dive into some nuance about what the heck is happening in the hiring landscape in general and how Bain is positioned inside there.
So Keith, I’m going to go ahead and just kick off by welcoming you to the pod and also reading a bio for you. Correct me if anything is wrong in here. It always feels a little bit odd for me to read this while you’re here. It’s like, you know, right? This is your bio, Keith. But here we go.
Keith Bevans is a Partner at Bain & Company and EVP of Global Recruiting. Over his 25+ years at Bain, he’s worn many hats—from advising Fortune 500 clients on performance improvement to leading global recruiting strategy across MBA, advanced degree, and industry channels.
Today, he oversees a 70-person team responsible for bringing top talent into Bain and works closely with senior leadership on everything from talent tech to onboarding. He’s also a proud MIT and Harvard Business School alum, and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to Strategy Simplified for the fourth time.
Thank you so much for joining us, Keith. Excited that you’re here.
Keith:
Thank you. It’s good to be back. Keep having me back.
Jenny Rae:
You betcha. Let’s go. This is wild. Let’s do it.
Inside Bain’s Recruiting Structure
Jenny Rae:
So first of all, a lot of people will hear you for the first time on this pod. Can you just give a quick snapshot into your role, which has become increasingly systematized but also remains very personal? Leading Bain's global consulting recruiting team—what does that actually look like from the inside?
Keith:
Yeah, so the way we're structured actually helps clarify a little bit. The way I think about it, the easiest way to think about it is a little bit of a matrix—because why keep it simple.
There are three regional leaders: APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. And then there are four channel leaders. Basically, playing a little bit loose with the language—associate consultant, consultant, experience talent recruiting (which is all the non-consulting staff), and leadership recruiting (which is effectively partner hiring). So again, playing a little bit loose with the language.
You’ve got sort of three regions and four sources. And then below that matrix, you have eight centers of excellence. Those are things like assessments, marketing, or operations—but there are eight of them that support the entire matrix.
So there are things that everybody needs—like marketing or assessments—and we put those into global centers of excellence. I currently lead the consulting channel, which is MBA, advanced degree, and lateral hires who come in as consultants. And I also lead the eight global centers of excellence.
So I’m sort of involved in all of our recruiting globally. But when I focus, I focus mostly on consultant, MBA, PhD hiring.
Jenny Rae:
Look, Keith, everybody has a number for retirement. I don’t have a number, though - I have a moment. When everybody in the industry can get their freaking act together and decide what to call each of the levels so that everyone can understand what the heck it is. That’s the day I retire. I’m done.
Keith:
You will work forever, Jenny.
Jenny Rae:
I know. I think it’s kind of just an excuse to stay in my working years. But anyhow. That was incredibly clear and also super confusing—so well done. I think you’ve accomplished your first check mark of the conversation.
What’s New at Bain in 2025?
Jenny Rae:
Yeah, seriously. So let’s kick off by talking about what’s new at Bain in 2025. What’s shaping the way you think about the business?
We love the lens of talent because it tells you so much about not just today but also the future. And you can go bigger than talent, though—right? People, clients, how the firm is operating. If somebody hasn’t checked in in the last year or two—or even the last six months—what’s new right now?
Keith:
Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing is probably the pace of innovation has accelerated. It was already very fast at Bain—from when you were here—and the pace has just gotten faster. The cycle time to get things done is just faster than it’s ever been.
I think what's really neat is that the tools are changing, but that’s not really the secret sauce for us. The parts that stay the same are the way we work and the strengths that we lean on. How we get things done is a little bit different.
Now more than ever, we’re working in integrated teams. It’s not just that there’s a consulting team and then there’s this analytics group over here and a design group over there. They’re actually the case teams.
So the standard case team that you would have seen when you were here—or that I saw when I was on the consulting side—was like a manager, two associate consultants, two consultants, and then they’d just go do anything.
It’s very different now. It might be a manager or consultant, an AC, a data scientist, an innovation expert or a product designer. A lot of times our teams now have developers on them.
When I was an AC—I tell this story a lot because it’s true—we would leave clients with an Excel spreadsheet model and say we built them a tool. And to make sure they didn’t break it, we would lock some of the cells. That was our big, “aha, we got this.”
Now, we’ll actually have our developers code up an app and leave clients with a working app or a working piece of software. That’s just a very different way of doing things. And it raises the stakes for how well you work with an integrated team.
It’s not that I send something off and then they develop it and I give feedback later. We actually sit side-by-side. If we’re building an app for store associates in a retail environment, we’ll go walk the store together—me looking through a strategy lens and the developer through a technology lens. So when they build that application, we both understand the challenges the frontline faces.
Bain’s Expanding Ecosystem of Partners
Keith:
That’s very different. And the last thing that’s been exciting for us the past several years—I wouldn’t say it’s new this year—but we have an entire ecosystem of partners we’re bringing to bear.
So I mentioned integrated teams and different groups at Bain. But we also have a huge network of external partners that let us bring the best tools for the task on every project.
We’re not trying to build everything ourselves. Some firms do that—good luck to them. But we’ve had partnerships before ChatGPT was even a thing. We were already partnered with OpenAI.
We’re also partnered with AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce—so depending on what our clients are facing, we can bring them the best solution that exists. Because the tool isn’t the answer. The tool is part of the answer.
Knowing how to use the tool is the answer. And knowing how to get your entire global organization—oftentimes tens of thousands of people—to do something differently? That’s the hard part. The tool just helps you get there.
Why Clients Still Hire Consultants in 2025
Jenny Rae:
So Keith, you know I work in both the digital world and also in the physical world. And the physical world is hard to disrupt—housing, rentals, power, wine.
But in this year, in 2025, can you just tell me: why are people hiring consultants at all? And why specifically are they hiring Bain? What is Bain’s value proposition in 2025?
Keith:
Well, I think it’s a similar value proposition to both our clients and our employees, but they are different in some ways.
To your first question—why are people hiring consultants? What’s always been interesting to me is that consulting tends to stay relevant regardless of the economic cycle.
And I’ve been here now 29 years—so almost 30. I’ll have to update the bio soon. Still says 25 plus.
Jenny Rae:
You can keep it at 25 plus forever.
Keith:
Yeah, totally. 25 plus is a good way to do it. But I’ve now been through multiple cycles. We had the dot-com crash, the bubble, the housing crash. I’ve seen a lot.
When times are great and money’s growing on trees, investors are throwing capital around. The big question companies ask is: where do we invest? There are too many opportunities—they don’t know which ones to bet on.
So we get called in to help figure out where to grow.
Consulting in Downturns and Times of Uncertainty
Keith:
On the flip side, when the economy slows down, there’s a lot more emphasis on strategic retreat. How do we cut back without hitting an artery? How do we reduce costs in a way that doesn’t prevent long-term growth when things bounce back?
We get different types of work, but our phone rings either way.
And especially now, in times of uncertainty, we’re really helpful to companies that are trying to figure out: what are the things I can do today that I won’t regret?
What are the no-regrets moves my company should be making?
And I don’t know if anyone’s keeping up with the news—but things are changing every day. Apparently based on what gets posted on social media, that’s how we run the country now.
So in that environment, companies are looking for ways to navigate things intelligently—and they call us to help them with that.
Can AI Replace Consulting?
Jenny Rae:
I love it. I think it’s fascinating because one of the questions is around AI fundamentally changing the consulting model.
AI doesn’t provide certainty though, does it, Keith?
Keith:
No. Actually, just for kicks, maybe a year ago, I asked ChatGPT, “Who is Keith Bevans?”
And I’ll tell you—the Keith Bevans it knew was phenomenal. I worked at all kinds of companies, had all kinds of experiences. And I’m thinking, “My bio’s online... what is this thing doing?”
It’s gotten better now. But it is a tool. It does need to be verified.
It changes the nature of the work in some important ways. When I was an AC, just finding the data was the problem. If you had the data, you were significantly ahead of the competition.
Then, sometime while I was an AC, a company called Google launched. And we all thought, “Well, there goes the job. Death of consulting.” That was like 1998.
The Real Value Is in Execution
Keith:
The truth is, the nature of the work changes. And AI is helping teams get to answers faster. But the answer isn’t the hard part.
You need the right answer, and you need a team that can tell when AI is hallucinating and when it’s not. A team that knows, “Yeah, it saw that online, but it was a social media post—not a fact.”
You can’t cite that in a bibliography any more than you could use it in a paper for school.
So you need people who can apply a discerning eye. People who understand how AI works and what it can do. But once you have the answer, the real challenge is rolling it out across an organization.
And that’s where Bain is very different.
Why Clients and Talent Choose Bain
Keith:
I think that’s the value proposition for our clients. Clients hire Bain because we can work top to bottom through the organization in a way that other firms can’t. And it has a lot to do with the people we hire and the humility we bring to the job.
I don’t lead with my degrees. I don’t lead with the fact that I just spoke with the CEO. I lead with the fact that I have a great team, I respect your experience, and together we’re going to get to a better answer.
That’s a really different approach than some other firms.
On the employee side, the value proposition hasn’t really changed.
You get to show up every day with purpose. That purpose is the impact you’re having—not just for individual executives, but for companies as a whole.
Bain as a Place to Thrive and Grow
Keith:
You get to work at a place where you can thrive. We want you to be a healthy, whole person—not just a brain on a stick that can use Excel. Which I guess would be weird, with no hands. But you get the metaphor.
We also recognize people’s work. The people we hire work hard, and they want to be acknowledged. Not just with applause on a Zoom call—but with financial compensation and career growth.
And we want people to grow. Not everyone will stay at Bain as long as I have, but I want every person’s time at Bain to be additive to their career.
Because one day, I want to talk about that person as an alum—hello, Jenny—and the great things they’re doing. Those four things make up our employee value proposition.
And when we get people who really resonate with that, we get great results for our clients. It’s a great cycle, and we’ve been in it for 52 years.
Why Consulting Still Matters
Jenny Rae:
So I want to say one thing. It sounds like—if I’m going to summarize, and you tell me if I heard this wrong—we’re saying consulting remains relevant as long as businesses have either a slate of great decisions to make or a series of hard decisions to make.
Which they almost always have, right? And that is something AI cannot do for them. It can inform decisions, but it cannot make the decisions. It can’t recommend decisions. It can’t think from a 3D or 4D perspective when it’s looking at that decision.
Did I hear you right on that?
Keith:
Yes. And I would say—not yet. We’ll see what happens next year with AI.
Jenny Rae:
2026. We’ll be back on the pod.
Keith:
Exactly. Or we won’t be. Maybe it’ll just be an avatar of me.
But I would say this: it is a more powerful tool. This technology advancement feels different. It feels materially different than when we had the app ecosystem, or Google, or big data.
But again, I think it accelerates parts of the curve. The hard part is actually doing the work.
Is the Consulting Skill Set Still Valuable?
Jenny Rae:
Everybody on their computer. I know it. I’m going to ask you another question about interviews in a hot second.
But right now, I got an email about four weeks ago from someone I’ve been advising the last couple of years. And the tone was different. It said, “I’m questioning whether the skill set I’m learning here is relevant for the future.”
They weren’t working at Bain, but they were at a significant branded firm.
So my question for you is: are you seeing more people look outside of consulting? Has your competitive set changed?
Back when I was recruiting, it was a little bit of banking, a lot of McKinsey and BCG...
Keith:
Their names on our call, Jenny. Come on.
Jenny Rae:
I know, it’s so rude. The dark stars.
Keith:
Look, is the skill set relevant? I think there are a couple of different things I’d say in response.
One, the demand from what I’m seeing has never been higher. Maybe that’s because the market’s a little bit slower right now, or we’re coming out of a slump—and when that happens, people apply to everything.
But from an application standpoint, nothing I’ve seen—and nothing my teams are telling me—would suggest there’s a problem. Quite the opposite.
Interest in consulting seems very high. For our core MBA campuses especially, I look at the data over multiple years. It goes up and down, and it’s a little bit lower now—but it was probably artificially high a few years ago.
Where Do People Go If They Don’t Choose Bain?
Keith:
What is true all the time, Jenny, is that 90% of the people who get an offer from Bain and don’t take it—which is not many—stay in consulting. They go to a competitor.
So from that perspective, the competitive set hasn’t changed dramatically.
Now, before the last crash—before COVID—there was more pressure we felt from the big tech firms. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google. But I’m not seeing that same trend today.
Jenny Rae:
That’s super interesting on the inbound. Can we also just finish that thought on outbound? Where are people going after Bain?
Keith:
All of the above. Bain is different because we believe we’re training future general managers.
That might mean you’re an executive director at a nonprofit. It might mean you’re in the C-suite at a Fortune 500 company. Because of how we train people, you see a lot more Bain alums go into private equity, into startups, or into entrepreneurial roles.
We’re not just training people to operate in massive corporations—though they clearly can do that. And every firm can point to a big page of alums.
But Bain’s training leads to a more diverse range of paths on the back end. And that’s reflected in our alumni network.
What was the second part of my question though? I forgot.
Is the Skill Set Still the Same?
Jenny Rae:
That was it. It was just like—where are they going? And does the skill set still feel relevant?
Keith:
Yeah, it’s the same skill set. I mean, what job are people looking for where it wouldn’t be important to know what matters, break it down into pieces, and mobilize a team to tackle those problems?
I’m not sure there is a job where that’s not valuable. So yes, I think it’s still relevant.
Jenny Rae:
I love it. Maybe somebody will text you later and tell you if it’s not.
Keith:
Please don’t. Please don’t text me later and tell me.
One Big Change Since the Pandemic
Jenny Rae:
Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about Bain’s recruiting function. The first time we met was during the pandemic and there was carnage all over the industry.
People were pulling back their summer hires. I think Bain kept yours—you basically did like some pretend work and some real work? I can’t even remember what was happening.
Keith:
It was all real work.
Jenny Rae:
Right, it was all real work. But anyhow, it was this really fascinating time. That was our first time meeting.
So since the pandemic, what is one single thing you’ve noticed that’s different about the recruiting function now—compared to pre-pandemic and during the pandemic?
Keith:
Internally, there’s a lot more reach. We’re able to connect with more people online and do it well, so we can have much broader access.
Technologies like the one we’re using today have really democratized the process. There are physical constraints to how many campuses you can go to in a year. Now I can visit a bunch at once—on Zoom, right from my desk.
So that’s changed the mechanics of how we operate.
What Bain Looks for in New Hires Today
Keith:
The other thing that’s changed is that we’re looking for people who are what I’d call rapid adopters.
I don’t need people who are bleeding-edge innovators, trying out every crazy new tool. But I do need people who can incorporate technology into their day-to-day pretty smoothly.
It shouldn’t be disruptive when the tech changes. We’re looking for what we call “bilingual” talent—someone fluent in business and tech.
Most people on campus today have that. I’ve watched my sons go through college and early careers—that’s just how it is now.
And yet, half the people on this call are still putting Microsoft Office on their resumes as a skill. Like, most elementary school kids are even using word processors these days. But okay—we’ll pretend that’s still a relevant resume skill.
Jenny Rae:
We’re getting hired at Management Consulted to help organizations communicate. So business fluency and communication—the so-called “soft skills”—they aren’t really soft anymore. They’re table stakes.
Communication Still Matters
Keith:
Exactly. And I don’t fault people. We have tools internally that help improve writing style, email drafts, and that kind of thing.
But at the end of the day, this is still a relationship-driven business. If you’re sitting across from a CEO and you ask her about her biggest challenge, you can’t say, “Can I take three minutes to collect my thoughts?” and pull out your phone to ask ChatGPT.
That’s not a thing.
You’ve got to actually engage with someone in person, like a human being. Turns out, that still matters.
Jenny Rae:
I love it. I’m going to play this for my kids later. Maybe I’ll just have them call Uncle Keith.
Hiring Targets and Campus Strategy
Jenny Rae:
Let’s talk a little bit about hiring targets. I think it would be helpful to dig into the nuance of what you mentioned earlier—about democratizing the hiring process.
Bain doesn’t consider every application equally, right? You still go to campuses for a reason. What are some of the factors you’re looking at? Because some people think, “I can do anything from anywhere and have whatever grades—it doesn’t matter.”
And I know that’s not true. So it’d be helpful for you to say it.
Keith:
I’m sure there’s a job out there where that’s true—good luck to them. But probably not here.
We do try, as best we can, to review every application. Believe it or not, we take a lot of pride in that. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s always the goal.
We know not everybody had the same opportunities. Even with elite schools offering free tuition, there are people going to schools we don’t recruit at—because it made a meaningful difference for their family.
That person who had the grit to work 20 hours a week while maintaining a strong GPA? They probably have what it takes. Because something’s going to go wrong at work. And they’ll be like, “This isn’t the hardest thing I’ve done. I’ve been here before.”
What Bain Looks for Outside the Core Schools
Keith:
We really try to look across the board.
Now, as for hiring right now—we did a big push in spring this year. For most of our markets, we have the class of 2025 already joining. We’re not actively adding a lot of lateral hires at the moment—we’re onboarding the folks we just hired.
In fact, I think a group just started today—or maybe yesterday. I’m forgetting what day it is.
Jenny Rae:
It’s Tuesday, but I usually forget too. So today works.
Keith:
And we’re planning for interns next year at even higher numbers than this year—which is a good sign.
But you don’t have to intern at Bain to join full-time.
And people forget that we have non-traditional, non-consulting roles too. All those people I mentioned earlier—data scientists, innovation experts, designers, developers—we hire them all. And we have to find them somewhere.
Beyond Consulting Roles at Bain
The people who join Bain in those roles—like product development, design, analytics—they want to have impact. They don’t want to code mindlessly at a multibillion-dollar company and never see what happens with their work.
At Bain, they’re doing work with client teams. So they stay on the cutting edge of their field by tackling real client problems.
But people sometimes look too narrowly at what Bain offers. They think, “I can be an AC or a consultant.” And forget that there are dozens of other roles—filled by experienced professionals with real career paths.
I even switched to one of those tracks when I moved to recruiting.
Jenny Rae:
This is a trick question, but: are you clear at Bain about whether a role is client-facing?
Because it’s clear that ACs and consultants are—but for others, that’s a big decision factor.
Keith:
Yeah, it’s usually clear in the job spec. Some roles, like software developers, are internal-facing—they’re building for Bain. Others are external-facing—they’re building for clients.
It’s all in the job description, including travel expectations and what the work looks like.
But again, I think people just forget how many options there are here. And our teams are always looking for great people, all over the world.
Spring Recruiting Push and Why It Matters
Jenny Rae:
Why did you do the spring push? And will you do it again?
Keith:
Yes, we will. We’re currently planning for it—probably opening applications in Q4 of this year. We’d look to interview in Q4 and early Q1 of next year, for start dates around March or April.
It helps us align business need with hiring capacity. If I interview a first-year MBA in January, they’re going to graduate 18 months later and start four months after that. That means I’m locking in capacity 22 months in advance.
And I don’t know about you—but most people don’t grocery shop a month in advance, let alone 22 months.
So for us, we’ll still do a lot of campus hiring and have our internship programs. But having a portion of our capacity we can align more closely with demand? That’s just smart business.
It also gives people other entry points—folks who didn’t apply on campus, or tried something else and realized, “This wasn’t it. Maybe I should look at Bain.”
Tapping Nontraditional Backgrounds
Jenny Rae:
We talked a little already about tapping nontraditional backgrounds. You mentioned you actually do review all applications. But… do you still have a couple of favorites?
Like, are there backgrounds where you’re like, “Come on guys, this is better than that,” even though technically, anyone could come to Bain?
Keith:
I think everyone says “it could be anything,” but I get what you’re asking.
When I think about the diversity of my starting class almost 30 years ago—there’s not a single archetype. Despite what I read online, which is like fan fiction for Bain.
What we’re really looking for are characteristics.
What Makes a Strong Resume for Bain?
Keith:
There’s some baseline stuff, of course. Are you smart? What’s your major? GPA? What are you doing in the classroom?
But then we look for leadership. Can you make things happen?
When you’ve led an organization—say you were president of something on campus—things go wrong. You’re organizing a conference, and a speaker’s flight is delayed. Now you need a plan B. That turns out to be a lot like client service. Are you going to freeze, or can you get it done?
Then there’s being a team player. A collaborator. Someone who works well with others.
So we’re looking at a bunch of things on a resume. Here’s something interesting though—people send me resumes all the time asking for feedback.
And one of the most common things I see is they tell me what they did. But I’m not hiring you to do that. I’m hiring you to be a consultant.
Telling me what you did on your last job isn’t the same as telling me you were good at it.
Show the Impact
Keith:
There are quarterbacks with the Chicago Bears, but they’ve got a losing record. That’s not good.
So I want to see what impact you had. Why your contribution mattered. How you made a difference to the team or the outcome.
When someone talks about their work in that way, it tells me two things. One, that they were good at it. And two, that they’re already thinking in terms of impact.
Which is what Bain is all about. It’s one of our core operating principles.
So just by how you write your resume, I can tell if you’re the kind of person who’s going to be a good fit here. Are you here to do stuff, or are you here to get stuff done? There’s a difference.
And you can show that, regardless of background or where you’re coming from. If you can do a lot with a little, I can only imagine what you’ll do in Bain’s ecosystem.
The Resume Isn’t Everything
Jenny Rae:
Have you ever read a resume and just thought, “We’re hiring this person. It’s happening.”
Keith:
It definitely wasn’t mine.
You know, I haven’t. Because there’s more to it than the resume. It’s about the person.
I’ve also had the benefit of going to a lot of great schools—depending on who you ask—and I’ve seen plenty of people who clearly got in on their resume alone.
Can I just say it like that? Because I just had my reunion. I don’t want to incriminate myself or anyone else.
Jenny Rae:
You can say it just like that, Keith.
Keith:
The resume is only part of the story. At the end of the day, your resume might get you into the C-suite. But when the CEO asks you what’s going on, she’s going to want an answer.
It’s go time.
The Truth About Referrals
Jenny Rae:
Talk to us about referrals. I hear you love DMs. Do you want everyone to DM you after this call?
Keith:
Don’t even get me started. Don’t send LinkedIn requests either. Although I think when we posted this, a lot of people did.
The referral process is fascinating. I’m on Reddit as “Keith from Bain,” and every 6–12 months there’s a new thread on referrals.
It ranges from people saying, “Can anyone give me a referral?” to “I had a referral and didn’t get through. What happened?”
What Referrals Actually Mean at Bain
Keith:
First of all, referrals aren’t a big deal. It’s not like if you get a referral someone says, “Okay, we don’t need to interview this person—Japheth said they were great.”
That would be crazy. That’s not how you stay a top firm for 52 years—by taking people just because someone knows them.
Historically, from a diversity standpoint, referrals also have issues. People tend to refer their friends—and that doesn’t always help with diversity.
So, are referrals helpful? Sure. They can help us find people we might have missed. But it’s not a golden ticket. This isn’t reality TV.
You still have to perform in the interview. A referral won’t overcome a low GPA. It won’t overcome the fact that you’ve done nothing but play Xbox in your dorm room. It doesn’t override a thin professional track record.
A Cold Email Isn’t a Relationship
Keith:
The other thing is—referrals are kind of like recommendations for school. A referral from someone who doesn’t know you? What are they going to say?
If someone says, “Hey Katie, I’ve got a referral for Japheth,” and she asks, “What do you know about him?” And the answer is, “Well, he wrote a nice cold email on LinkedIn.” That’s not a referral.
So when people ask me for referrals out of the blue, I respond. I always respond. And I say, “No, I don’t know you.”
But also—what would I even say?
Jenny Rae:
I’m dying inside that people have written you that email.
Keith:
They literally have. And they’ve gotten that exact response.
Someone once asked if they could go through the internal recruiting process. I said, “But… you’re not internal. What are you asking me?”
What a Cold Approach Says About You
Keith:
Again, it’s just data. The lack of self-awareness in that interaction is actually a bigger red flag than the referral request itself.
It tells me more about how they might behave with clients.
At Bain, I don’t keep you locked up in the office. I want you out there—talking to executives, working with frontline teams. That’s where the insights come from. And if I can’t trust you to engage thoughtfully with me on a cold outreach, how am I going to trust you with a client?
That’s crazy.
Jenny Rae:
To be fair, there was one intern in our office who showed up in seersucker and flip-flops, and we did lock him in the office for the summer.
We told him, “You can’t go out there like this.” But I love that guy. Everything turned out alright.
Keith:
Did he have a referral?
Jenny Rae:
That’s harsh. But I love it.
Keith:
Maybe it wasn’t as clear back then how the process worked.
Can You Use AI for Resumes and Cover Letters?
Jenny Rae:
Let’s talk a little bit more about the recruiting process. Can you use AI to build a resume? Can you use AI to build a cover letter?
Does that help you or hurt you?
Keith:
Can you? Yes.
If it embellishes your resume to the point that it did mine—probably not helpful. But I’ve seen my sons do it, and it actually makes meaningful suggestions. That’s fine.
It’s a tool. I expect people are using it. I don’t expect to know whether someone did or didn’t use AI.
If it helps you write a better resume or cover letter—go ahead.
Ultimately, though, you should go somewhere you think you can thrive. If you don’t think you can get through the process without a big assist, how do you think it’s going to go once you’re here?
Back to my Chicago Bears metaphor: if you don’t belong on the field, the best time to figure that out is before the game starts. Not when you get crushed on the opening kickoff.
AI in the Interview Process
Jenny Rae:
You're going to get a lot of emails from Bears fans.
Keith:
But they won’t say I’m wrong.
So yeah—use the tools if you want. AI is basically like asking your roommate to proofread your cover letter, which we all did. You just don’t have to wake them up now.
But in the interview? No. We don’t want you using calculators—we’ve always said that. And we don’t expect you to use AI either.
Do I think people try? Yeah. But it’s usually obvious.
And it makes it harder to do well at Bain. So we ask people not to use AI during the interview. We say it every time. And we expect that, because trust is critical here.
Jenny Rae:
I love it. That preempted my next question. I was going to say: you’re cool with ChatGPT doing the interview for you, right?
You can just have the bot do the interview—it’s totally fine, right?
Keith:
I actually talked to a friend of mine who’s a Bain alum and now a dean at one of the business schools. He told me they’re convinced a student did an interview using an AI avatar—not even the real person.
Jenny Rae:
So they let him in, right? Totally fine.
Keith:
I didn’t ask how it turned out, but they were like, “That was pretty weird. That’s not the same dude.”
What’s New in Bain’s Recruiting Process
Jenny Rae:
What about Bain’s process—any changes? Are you bringing back in-person cases? What’s the Bain Online Test for? When does it happen?
Keith:
Some basics haven’t changed. Depending on the position and office, you’ll get one or two rounds. You’ll get some case interviews. You’ll get an experience interview.
The experience interview is just getting to know you.
I did some last month. And there were people who clearly rehearsed a script. I asked one question and got a five-minute answer on something totally unrelated.
That’s not what we’re looking for. Can we just talk for a minute?
Again, I’m thinking about how you’d be with clients. Can you actually engage? It’s not about getting an A+ on an answer—it’s about the interaction.
Interview Format and Online Assessments
Keith:
The case interviews—we’re still doing them on Zoom. Have been for a while. There will probably be some in-person interviews in the next 12 months. We haven’t figured that all out yet.
But there is still a personal element to the job. You’ve got to shake someone’s hand, look them in the eye, do the in-person thing. That’s always going to matter.
And the difference between in-person and Zoom cases? Not much. We actually have examples of both on our website if people want to see what the engagement is like.
Jenny Rae:
And the online tests?
Keith:
I’ve gotten some great insights on Reddit into the decisions I’ve apparently made.
Jenny Rae:
What have you decided or not decided?
Keith:
Be careful what you read online.
In the last several cycles, we were just trying to understand the tools. So we told people that. And for the most part, we were collecting data alongside our regular process—to see how predictive the tools actually are.
The only way to know is to compare them to the traditional process.
So now, everyone who applies for a consulting role at Bain will get an online assessment. We’re using two different ones. You’ll get one of them.
What the Online Assessment Really Means
Keith:
You don’t need to study for it. You don’t need to freak out. Please stop posting screenshots on the forums asking people to help.
Because again—if you can’t get in without that kind of help, it’s probably not going to be great when you’re here.
But seriously, we are going to keep doing it. And it’s one data point. That’s the key thing—it’s one data point.
It’s not a filter. There’s no pass/fail score.
Just like everything else on your resume, it helps paint a more complete picture of who you are.
Let’s be clear—my GPA probably wouldn’t have gotten me through the screen.
You talked earlier about not being able to work at the firm. My GPA wouldn’t have gotten me through either. But I had other things on my resume. And Bain’s process looked at all of it. Same with the online assessments—they're just one more part of that whole-picture view.
Final Advice for Applicants
Jenny Rae:
Okay, we’re going to finish up our side here. If you’re live on the call and have questions for Keith, pop them in the chat—Japheth is going to read a couple out. You can also post on YouTube or LinkedIn.
Keith, I want one hot take about the industry. Where’s it going in the next five years? What are you thumbs-up about, and what are you a little shaky on?
Keith:
Hot take? Honestly, I’m not sure it’s that hot because I mentioned it already—but I think the answer will keep getting easier to get to. The big shift will be how well firms can drive change and mobilize organizations around a common goal.
That’s always been Bain’s focus. But I think the gap between firms that can do that and those that can’t is going to widen.
That speaks to the kind of people we hire. Yes, you need IQ—you need to get to the right answer and know when AI is wrong. But you also need EQ.
You need to be able to say to someone, “I know you’ve been doing this the same way for ten years, but let’s try something new. Or, better yet, let’s combine what you’re doing with what we’ve got—and make it even stronger.”
Consulting Isn’t Dying—It’s Growing
Jenny Rae:
At the end of our case competition training, we say: “Your job is to inspire leaders to take risks to change.”
Keith:
Why did you even ask me the question? You said it better than I did. I need you to write that down.
Jenny Rae:
Japheth, can you help with that? Put it on the social snippet, please.
But seriously—it’s hard to keep up. And the thing you said earlier reminded me of something I share in our presentations: “What was the number one year for consulting revenues?”
Answer? Last year.
Every year has been the biggest ever for the industry.
Then I ask, “What was the low point?” People guess—COVID, 2008, dot-com crash. But really, the first recorded year was the lowest. It's been growth ever since.
So this industry keeps growing, expanding, and becoming more essential. The question isn’t, “Will consulting grow?” It’s, “Where is that growth coming from?” and “How do we prepare for it?”
Final Tips for Applicants
Jenny Rae:
As people prepare to apply to Bain in the weeks ahead—just a couple weeks from now for undergrads—what advice would you give?
Keith:
I’ll keep it quick.
First, attend events like this. But it’s not a popularity contest. We don’t say, “Well, this person talked to ten people, they’re in. This one only talked to two, they’re out.” That’s not how it works.
Do enough to really understand Bain—beyond the basics on the website. How does home office staffing affect your day-to-day? What’s it like working with the same people over time? How does that feel?
Second, prep slowly. One case a week over several weeks is way better than ten cases over Thanksgiving break.
And you should enjoy it. That’s a sign this job might be right for you. If it’s making you sweat and panic—maybe not.
And finally, try not to stress. Most of the people listening today have great backgrounds. But society needs people in all kinds of places. One case interview doesn’t determine your whole career.
Enjoy the journey.
Jenny Rae:
Maybe our next podcast should be “All the dumb decisions we made and how it still turned out okay.”
Keith:
There’s not a podcast long enough for that, Jenny.
Jenny Rae:
Okay—some quick-fire questions before we go to the chat.
Favorite Chicago restaurant to recommend to visiting candidates?
Keith:
People who know me know: if it doesn’t have paper napkins, it’s too fancy. So I’d say Jim’s Original on Maxwell Street, YASA for Senegalese food, or Uncle Joe’s for jerk chicken. Get into the neighborhoods and eat real food.
Jenny Rae:
Do you have cloth napkins at home?
Keith:
No. We call them “fancy dinners,” but we still don’t use them.
Jenny Rae:
If you weren’t at Bain, what job would you try for a year?
Keith:
Photography. It’s more than a hobby for me. I took a sabbatical last year—we traveled to 16 countries in six months. I took tens of thousands of photos, started a podcast, built a website. That’s what I’d be doing.
Jenny Rae:
Last one: when does someone stop being a campus hire and become an experienced hire?
Keith:
Good question. If you graduate in May and call us in June, you’re probably a lateral. The full-time class started based on interviews from eight months earlier.
Now, if you have two to six years of experience, depending on what you did, we’ll consider whether you're better suited for an AC or consultant role.
We look at it case by case. But if you’re calling in May when everyone else applied the fall before—we’re going to ask what you were doing back then. So have an answer. And it should be your answer—not AI’s.
Jenny Rae:
Beautiful. Thanks, Keith.