Liz Kenney
Former McKinsey
We’ve confirmed that the Sova assessment is being given to candidates in the London office. Bain says that mainly their European and Middle East offices use this test.
Amsterdam is using the TestGorilla assessment.
The San Francisco office is using the Bain Video Interview.
We’ll add additional offices as we see the Bain online assessment rolling out. But in the meantime, how should you prepare?
Contents
Good news – you heard from a recruiter at Bain!
Also . . . they want you to take an online assessment.
There’s no need to panic. This is really common practice at consulting firms these days. We’re here to help you prepare for the Bain online assessment.
The assessment takes different forms in different offices. If you’re eyeing Bain offices in London, Amsterdam, or the Middle East, check out the section about the online assessments they use. Consulting firms, including Bain, continue to roll out new online assessments and include them in the recruiting process for more offices.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What the Bain online assessments looks like,
- How to prepare for the Bain online test,
- The Bain video interview, another type of online assessment,
- What offices have rolled out the Bain assessments,
- 6 tips on passing the Bain online test,
- Pitfalls to avoid, and
- What you can expect in the recruiting process after you pass.
Let’s get started!
The Bain Online Assessment – What It Looks Like
There are 3 Bain online assessments used by different offices. These tests run on different platforms: Sova, Pymetrics, and TestGorilla. Bain also has a video interview that some offices use.
The fact that Bain has multiple different online tests can be confusing, so in this section, we’ll go through each one. We recommend asking your Bain recruiter if you’re not sure which one you’ve been asked to take.
Bain Online Assessment – the Sova Assessment
This Bain online assessment, also called the Bain online test, is a 75-minute test that can be taken on your own device from anywhere.
The test will examine how you react in certain situations and how you respond to new information.
The test is powered by Sova assessments and includes 6 sections:
- Situational Judgement Test (SJT)
- Numerical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Logical Reasoning
- Personality Questionnaire
- Video interview
This Bain online test is a blended test. That means there will be multiple assessments or questions incorporated into each section of the test. It is not as straightforward as the SAT, for example, where typically a single section focuses on a specific set of knowledge or skills.
The Bain online assessment will evaluate situational awareness, numerical and verbal aptitude, and logical reasoning. Because of this, it’s good to practice this type of layered, complex assessments.
Review our tips for each section of the test so that you are not caught off guard by the structure or types of questions you’re asked.
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How to Prepare for the Bain Online Assessment (Sova)
Practice makes perfect.
Many of the questions will look and feel like GMAT questions. We’ve found that the more often you’ve seen various types of questions, the easier it will be to recognize them during the test.
But if you’ve already aced the GMAT, that doesn’t mean there’s no need to review. Jump down to our “How to Prepare Using the Sova Assessment” for the types of questions that will be new to you.
How To Prepare Using Practice GMAT Tests
The online test does not cover exactly the same material as the GMAT so this isn’t a perfect study guide, but it’s quite good. Like the GMAT, the Bain digital assessment has multiple question formats.
Pay particular attention to questions in the quantitative and integrated reasoning sections. We recommend using these test-prep guides: a GMAT strategy guide, a GMAT prep book focused on quantitative questions, and a primer on Economics.
Review your GMAT test practice questions for trends in the types of questions you missed. If your mistakes were careless errors, ask yourself what habits you can develop to limit those types of mistakes in the future.
If your mistakes were based on a gap in your understanding of a concept, spend more time studying that concept.
Most people simply do practice questions without reviewing their results for how they can study smarter. Don’t do this.
Focus on the types of problems you struggle with until you can consistently get them right. The types of questions that we find people consistently struggle with include:
- Comprehension – using data already provided in follow-on questions,
- Unconscious bias – letting your own perceptions color your answers rather than using only the data provided, and
- Math – careless errors or inability to set up the math equations.
How To Prepare Using the Sova Assessment
You should prepare for this test by understanding the various types of assessments based on the Sova assessment.
Situational Judgement Test (SJT)
This part of the Bain online test will evaluate how you react in various scenarios that you may encounter as a consultant.
You will be prompted with text, video, imagery, or animation and asked to select the “Most Effective’ and ‘Least Effective response list provided. The list will typically include three to four options.
Make sure to base your answer on only the information provided in the prompt. Do not allow your biases from previous experiences or assumptions about the situation to guide your answer.
It’s a good idea to review Bain’s values before you take the test. If you are unsure about which multiple-choice answer to choose, consider their values and what someone who shares those values would do.
For example, one of the Bain values you hear about most is: “A Bainee never lets another Bainee fail.” So if there is a question about whether you should help a teammate, the answer should always be “yes” unless there are mitigating circumstances (example: you will miss your own deadline by helping your teammate and another teammate has time to help them.)
Ability
Ability assessments will include information that may be presented as text, a graph, or a pattern and will gauge how quickly and accurately you can answer the ability questions. We describe the ability assessments below.
Numerical Reasoning
Numerical reasoning assessments will evaluate how quickly and accurately you can answer questions about numerical data. These questions are multiple-choice. You must select the best answer from a list of four.
These questions include business math questions like market share, profit margin, and break-even analysis, so you should brush up on your business math skills.
If you are struggling to reach one of the four provided answers, try to eliminate which answers cannot be right. Reducing the consideration set increases your likelihood of selecting the best answer.
Verbal Reasoning
This portion of the test will evaluate how quickly you can draw conclusions based on verbal and written information. You’ll receive a verbal prompt and be asked to select the correct answer from multiple-choice options.
Logical Reasoning
The logical test can be difficult, as the answers are not always intuitive.
If this section is late in the assessment, you may have been lulled into a sense of consuming and interpreting information in more traditional ways.
This section is specifically designed to break you out of your typical thought patterns. The questions may ask you to break down and process information in a different way, such as identifying patterns in a visual sequence.
The good news: the logical reasoning section is multiple choice so the answer is right in front of you.
The bad news: if you’re like me, your brain kind of breaks when you get to a question that looks and feels so different from the rest of the test.
This is completely normal!
The best thing you can do is prepare for logic questions ahead of time, so you easily recognize them and aren’t thrown when you get to one.
You can review study guides for the LSAT to learn more about logic questions.
Personality Questionnaire
Your reward after preparing for the logical reasoning assessment is that there are no wrong answers in the personality questionnaire! This part of the Bain digital assessment is meant to help Bain understand your behavioral preferences.
There will be several statements grouped into buckets of four. You will respond to each statement with a rating of from 1 to 5, ranging from “Most Like Me” and Least Like Me”.
The Bain online test forces you to rank responses. It does allow you to use the same rating for multiple responses within a group of four.
Again, there is no wrong answer. Choose the rating that best reflects your response or reaction to any statement as it pertains to the workplace environment.
Before taking this test, it’s a good idea to read up on what a day in the life of a consultant looks like. (This article on what consultants do is a good place to start.) It will give you a sense of the behaviors and preferences that help you succeed in the field and consider whether you share them.
Bain Online Assessment – The Pymetrics Assessment
The Pymetrics assessment is a set of games used to assess how you learn, process information, and react to different interpersonal situations. Bain suggests that no preparation is required, but we recommend learning a bit more about this assessment before you take it. If nothing else, it will calm your nerves.
BCG also uses the Pymetrics test and we’ve got a full article on it here.
The Bain Video interview
Questions have been pre-recorded and will play in the video interview with text. You will have 1 minute to review each question and prepare your response. A minute is really just enough time to think through the structure or key points of your answer.
Prior to starting the Bain online test, prepare some anecdotes or insights about yourself. Our article on Consulting Behavioral Interviews can help you with that.
Here are some question prior candidates taking the Bain online test have been asked:
- Why are you interested in working for Bain?
- What are your responsibilities at your current firm? What does success in your position look like? Do you work as part of a team?
- What is your proudest accomplishment and what steps did you take to achieve it?
- Why are you interested in this office?
- Are you interviewing with any other firms? What is your timeline for changing firms?
Once you hear the question, simply jot down some bullets to jog your memory or to help prompt you during your video response. You’ll then have 3 minutes to record your answer.
Before the interview portion of the assessment, you will be given a practice question to test your system. Be sure to test your equipment before starting the assessment so you know that your mic and camera work.
Choose a place to take the Bain online assessment that has a visually clear background and limited background noise. Your friends may love your cool Jaws poster, but it may be distracting in an interview.
Try to relax during your video responses. It’s just weird to have to record answers to interview questions. Pretend like you’re in a normal face to face interview.
Perhaps start your response with an enthusiastic and authentic “What a great question!” or “I’m so glad you asked that.” before you dive into your response. I know I’d get a chuckle out of someone making a transition as if they were speaking with an actual human.
We recommend that you practice the video interview once or twice before you start the Bain digital assessment. You can set up a video or audio recording on your phone and watch your interview to evaluate if your set-up looks professional, and to practice your responses. We have practice questions in our article on Bain Personal Experience Interview.
I hate watching myself on camera or listening to myself, but it may provide you comfort during the actual online assessment, or the ability to improve if you can practice a few times.
Bain Online Assessment – The TestGorilla Assessment
The Bain TestGorilla online assessment is similar to the Sova assessment as it also focuses on numerical, logical, and verbal reasoning sections. The key difference is that the TestGorilla assessment does not have a personality questionnaire or video interview.
The TestGorilla assessment is a series of timed exercises, each tailored to assess a different consulting skill. There will be 4 tests, each 8 to 15 minutes in length in a digital format similar to the GMAT.
Here’s a link to more info on the Bain TestGorilla online assessment.
What Offices Have Rolled Out the Bain Online Test & Video Interview
We’ll continue to update additional offices as we see the Bain online assessments roll out. For the most accurate information, ask the Bain recruiter in the office you’re applying to.
6 Tips on Passing the Bain Online Assessments
1. Practice, Practice, Practice!
The best way to be prepared for the test is to practice and become familiar with the types of questions you’ll see and what the right answers look like for those questions. Brain games will help you prepare for the logical reasoning section of the Bain online assessment. These games will not be the same as those on the test, but they will help you get a sense of what to expect. Free brain training apps include Peak, Mensa Brain Training, and Elevate.
2. Read Up on What Bain’s Looking for In Candidates and the Firm’s Values
Since your characteristics will be compared to those of successful Bain consultants, it doesn’t hurt to have a sense of what that looks like.
3. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
The Bain online assessment is not terribly long, but it is mentally challenging. Make sure you’re rested.
4. Ensure You Have a Quiet Environment
You only have one chance to take this test and succeed, so find a place with no distractions so you can focus on the test.
5. Take Your Time Understanding the Bain Online Assessment Instructions
The time you spend reading the instructions is not limited, so make sure you understand them before you start.
6. Start With a Strategy
Since you’re not timed while reading the instructions, plan your strategy before you start the game. Adjust your strategy as you go, if needed.
Be ready to absorb data from images flashed quickly on the screen. You may need to respond to the images you see with keyboard entries or remember a number you’ll be asked to recall later.
Pitfalls to Avoid on the Bain Online Test
You will not be able to repeat the test once you have started it, so make sure you are ready with the following:
DO set aside enough time to complete the test in one sitting.
DO make sure you have pen and paper next to your computer to take notes or do math.
DON’T skim through the instructions. The time you spend reading the instructions doesn’t count toward your time taking the test. Read the instructions carefully and completely to ensure you don’t make avoidable mistakes. This is probably one of the easiest mistakes you can make but one of the easiest to avoid.
DON’T lose track of time or allow yourself to get stuck on one question. Work methodically through the problems, not rushing, but not taking too much time. You can always go back to difficult questions at the end of the test if you have extra time.
What You Can Expect in the Recruiting Process After You Pass
Whoo-hoo! You passed the test!
Now onto first and final round interviews. You will need to prepare for the Bain case and behavioral interviews. See our links that will help you prepare for these below.
In this article, we’ve covered:
- What the Bain online assessments are like,
- The best ways to prepare for the new Bain online assessment,
- Which offices use the Bain digital assessment.
- 6 Tips to pass the Bain online test, and
- How to avoid mistakes on the Bain digital assessment, and
- What the rest of the recruiting process is like after you pass.
Still have questions?
If you have more questions about the Bain online test, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s coaches will answer them.
Other people prepping for Bain pre-screening tests found the following pages helpful:
Help with Consulting Interview Prep
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