Updated November 2026. By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant The Bain online assessment, which Bain calls its digital assessment, is a 30 to 40 minute screening test you take after applying: either Sova or TestGorilla, named in an email Bain sends once your application is in. A calculator is allowed on both. Which one you…
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Updated November 2026. By Dr. Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant A Bain internship usually means one of two paid programs: the Associate Consultant Internship (ACI) for bachelor’s and master’s students, or the Summer Associate program for MBA students. The ACI is for students with one summer left before graduation. In the US, Bain pays ACIs a…
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Updated September 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant McKinsey vs BCG vs Bain. They pay within a rounding error of each other, recruit from the same schools, and open nearly identical doors. Pick McKinsey for brand and global staffing, BCG for AI and technology work, and Bain for team culture and private equity…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated November 2026. The future of consulting is a shift in how the industry operates, not whether it exists. Under AI and client pressure, firms move to smaller and faster teams, value-based rather than hourly pricing, fewer entry-level hires, and a growing line of AI-strategy work. The core…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated October 30, 2026 Of the three MBB firms, Bain weighs personal fit the hardest, and candidates who treat the conversation as a warm-up walk out wondering why a clean case still got a ding. The Bain fit interview is the behavioral part of each live interview,…
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Florian spent five years at McKinsey as a Senior Consultant and is a highly experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach. Having conducted interviews with hundreds of candidates, he understands exactly what top-tier firms look for in successful applicants.
He founded StrategyCase.com to make top consulting careers more accessible by providing tailored, up-to-date insights into the recruiting process. Recognized as the most successful case and fit interview coach, Florian has helped his clients secure 700+ offers at MBB, Tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms over the past four years.
He is the author of “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview,” “The 1%: Case Interview Workbook,” and “Consulting Career Secrets”, all available on Amazon.
