| Topic Name: |
Informational Interview |
| Message Name: |
outside North America |
| Date Posted: |
02/05/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I'm not actually looking to work in the US so perhaps that fact might mitigate somewhat this otherwise troubling news, no? I'd gladly go wherever Bain would hire me. I've read that most foriegn offices have language proficiency requirements, however, I did not find any explicitly stated for the Stockholm, Milan, or Rome offices. (I lived in Italy for a year and speak *a bit* of Italian). Stockholm's office language is English - but then again so is Brussels and they require a second language. Even so, that leaves in order of preference: London, Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, and Jo'berg, although I understand that the latter is a very small office. London has a Dec. 2nd deadline but none of the other offices have a stated schedule and some are "always looking for talent".
What should I do?
If I can't speak with someone at the company I won't have anyone to ask questions about issues such as whether or not I should submit a resume to offices abroad or if it needs to be a CV.
P.S. I haven't submited any application yet because I haven't figured out all the details of where I should and shouldn't bother applying. |
| Message: |
The offices outside North America often run their own shows with regard to recruiting. However, I think it's pretty standard throughout the Bain worldwide system to submit a one-page document whether called a resume, CV, or whatever.
Toronto is managed as part of North America and follows the same recruiting schedule as Chicago. Knowledge of French is helpful but not required there, as there are a couple of Quebecois partners/managers. Stockholm prefers people who know a Scandinavian language or Suomi. Bain Cueno (the Italian offices) definitely require fluent Italian. Brussels requires either Dutch or French, and most well-educated Belgians are fluent in at least three languages. Hong Kong and Singapore are officially English, but at least in the case of HK, the social language of the office is Chinese.
The bigger problem in this case is to prove why you want to be in a certain geography. The offices want to see some evidence that you want to be in their location, other than just wanting a job and being willing to move 10,000 miles to get it. Typical reasons cited are family, boy/girlfriends, past business experience there, or educational connections (e.g. Harvard people often prefer Boston).
So yeah, the news might not be too positive, but keep in mind that there are thousands of consulting firms, and only a few of them have the rigid hiring practices I've been describing here.
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