Master 30 Bain & Company interview questions covering case frameworks, consulting fit, and client problem-solving.
Question 9 of 30
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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
Your interviewer is curious what your approach is to solving problems, how analytical and creative your thinking is, how you use data to quantify and make recommendations, and whether you can think quickly on your feet and "demonstrate an ability to frame complex problems and think creatively to find pragmatic solutions for our clients. We want people who see the world differently and can help us do the same." They also detail that they are looking for candidates with outstanding analytical skills, such as structured thinking and the ability to identify problems and find appropriate and viable solutions.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"Well, I always try to plan for contingencies. It's important to anticipate as many contingencies as possible, even though you may not know if or when they'll strike. Having said that, I take protecting my client's information very seriously. And that goes beyond guaranteeing their privacy. It extends to ensuring their information is protected and not lost. As a result, I save everything to a secure server in the cloud. I never keep anything on site. One day there was a power outage and a massive surge that caused data recovery on-site and delays. But, luckily I lost nothing and was able to continue working off-site without losing any momentum on the projects I was focused on. Yes, the power outage happened and was not according to plan, but I planned for it anyway. For me, it was a matter of integrity and nothing else."

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Written by Kevin Downey
30 Questions & Answers • Bain & Company

By Kevin

By Kevin