On the Ball at Bain & Co.

As a new associate consultant at Bain & Company, I'm responsible for providing analytical input to a client case team. I work with Bain's Private Equity Group, or PEG as we call it, which focuses on assignments for Bain's private-equity clients. I started working at Bain in the summer of 2005 and have been based in the firm's London office for close to a year now.

Before Bain, I was in India, where I received my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, worked for two years in the software industry in Bangalore, and then moved to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) for my MBA (see BW Online, 9/13/05, "India's MBA Gold Rush").

In my one year at the company, I have worked with clients in a number of industries, from energy and utilities to software and manufacturing. One day, I could be working with a client on a strategic review for a leading health insurer, and the next, I could be helping a leading bank decrease costs while increasing customer satisfaction.

TUBE TIME.  On each client "case," Bain associate consultants find the right information, create and interpret analyses, and present findings to case teams and clients. This work becomes the basis of the team's strategic recommendations. This can involve brainstorming sessions with management, interviewing industry experts and statistical analysts, or conducting focus-group discussions. Beyond pure modeling of data, we're expected to interpret the numbers -- how they affect the client, the client's industry, and how Bain can help our clients overcome growth dilemmas.

Here's a snapshot of a typical day on the job:

8:15 a.m. -- Leave home (near Tower Bridge) for the tube stop. Take the District/Circle line...
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