Blog

Australian MBA holders and students are in the best position to get jobs with a high performing consulting firm this year as coronavirus drives a big boost for local talent.

Damian Stephenson, lead recruiting partner at Bain Australia, said the company will be recruiting “more than ever” talent in 2021 and an MBA is a highly valued qualification.

“Australia-based MBA candidates are always an important source of new talent but are becoming more important than ever this year as COVID limits our ability to find overseas candidates for Bain Australia,” said Stephenson.

“We definitely value an MBA. More than 80% of our new hires in 2020 (excluding Associate Consultants and Senior Associate Consultants) had previously completed an MBA.

“Learning and experiencing the MBA is a great, but not the only way to develop and demonstrate the core competencies required to be a successful Bain Consultant.”

So what will Bain be looking for in candidates to demonstrate?

Mr. Stephenson listed four areas. Candidates have a passion for and the ability to:

• Break down large, complex and unknown problems quickly, pragmatically and creatively and solve them
• Collaborate, influence, lead and learn from others (customers, team members, colleagues)
• Communicate clearly and effectively in a variety of settings and formats
• Make a lasting impact on society and the world around you

Speaking of personality, Stephenson said, “The best candidates are intellectually curious, tenacious, ambiguous, empathetic, humble, and trainable.”

“We also live on diversity in all its forms and seek it. Therefore, there are not necessarily certain academic disciplines or professional backgrounds that are more desirable than others.”

Mr Stephenson said student recruitment has always been a very large and critical part of Bain’s hiring, and 2021 would be no exception.

“Overall, this year will be busier than ever for us from a hiring standpoint. We intend to hire as many great candidates as possible while doing more to increase the diversity of our candidate pools,” he said.

“Due to COVID, we will be hiring more than usual locally, as our recruiting options overseas are limited.”

Mr Stephenson said the growth of the business comes with the hiring.

“Our local and global business continues to grow rapidly and we anticipate this will continue in the medium and long term.

“Growing in hiring is one of the most important ways to drive business growth because our business is supply rather than demand. That means we typically want to hire as many great candidates as we can find. “