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Very happy to talk. Worked at Bain pre-MBA, and now at BCG. Bain culture is far better. People are way more friendly. As far as clients go, very similar. Bain does more PE work. BCG works more with government, and auto.
I guess it must depend on the office. I was Bain in London and Paris and switched to BCG Paris. I find it much better! The hours are totally reasonable (for consulting) and I get involved in many more things than just PE as in Bain. Both are good firms though
Echo BCG2’s perspectives. 100% agree Bain is a family! I am great friends with everyone at Bain. BCG - not very many friends at work!
Have had nothing but a positive experience at BCG
so I would take all of these opinions with a grain of salt.
Coach
I’ve worked at both BCG and McK, can say Mck is definitely more of a family and supportive feel. At BCG some days people just wouldn’t even talk to each other despite being in the same room it was all about churning out deliverables.
I will say McK isn’t quite the family feel that I hear from my friends at Bain, but definitely in the middle of the spectrum compared to the other two.
Coach
Ah so cool, I’m from ATL :)
BCG2 - yea I’ve heard the BCG Atlanta office is really stressful, why is that?
Personally also really enjoyed the social aspect of BCG so far - but wonder if it’s partially because I started right out of undergrad as an Associate. The majority of my closest friends are BCGers, but do have to admit that I don’t see the same level of social activity among the post-MBA starting cohorts... Have not experienced McK or Bain, but hope BCGers don’t let this discourage you, personally still think we’re a pretty great place to work at :)
Similar work and client size. Some variation in sector across markets/offices. Go where you feel comfortable!
I’ve loved it at Bain and made many friends here (large East Coast office), but have friends who love BCG. Haven’t worked at BCG so can’t compare 😊
Pre and post MBA and size of office is a huge difference. In general pre-mbas are a lot closer, esp in small offices. Post mba people are from such different stages of life and a much bigger group at bcg people are not as close. Larger office -> less socially close. Was premba in small office, postmba in big office. Socially have few close bcg friends. We always have fun at office events and trainings. And have never not gotten help when I need it. Take everything here with a grain of salt
Hearing the opinion that BCG is not friendly makes me sad. Personally, I've made some great friendships and always felt very supported at BCG, but then again I've never worked at Bain so can't compare. :)
Wonder how much of that difference is because of the size of the offices?
Of course there’s probably huge variations across offices for both firms.
Coach
Wonder how mck compares to both... I would assume more like BCG than Bain
Bain2: that’s true for us too. US WLB is bad, but certainly not as bad as Middle East, India or Northeast Asia.
How wound you say the culture is different between Bain and BCG
Mentor
Home staffing is a pretty huge culture component! You're always with your team even when not traveling, often work with the same people on multiple cases, generally live down the street from 90% of your colleagues so do a ton of social things.
Similar size offices.
Overall I definitely agree.