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 July 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 June 15, 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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Updated August 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Update, August 2026: McKinsey has raised US undergraduate base salary from $112,000 to $120,000, effective January 2027, covering summer interns and candidates who had already signed. Bain has matched. BCG has told offer holders that revised lettersare coming. The increase is a US adjustment…
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Bain & Company runs about 65 offices across 40 countries — the smallest footprint in MBB by design. Bain has historically prioritized fewer, denser offices over the McKinsey-style global expansion, and the firm’s culture, recruiting, and client work reflect that choice. Office identity matters more at Bain than at any other top-tier firm. Most candidates…
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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.
