BWUA Opportunity with Bain

In a special treat for the membership, BWUA joined with Wharton Latino to host an Associate Consultant Meet-and-Greet on March 28. Attendance from both clubs was high, however BWUA members were in the majority. The meet-and-greet was relaxed and informal, and the consultants spoke really to encourage the students to choose the career path that fits them best be that Bain or elsewhere. Mike Gomez was the senior consultant present, and he boasted an impressive resume. He had worked at JP Morgan for four years in Investment Banking when he realized that the field was not for him and promptly took off to join The Peace Corps. He lived in Benin, West Africa for two years teaching entrepreneurship and small business skills before returning to the United States. Soon thereafter, he began working with Bain and asserted that he could not he does not think he could be happier anywhere else. He attributed part of his love for Bain to the strong sense of community among co-workers, saying “ In investment banking, the mindset is more if a man falls you keep going and leave him there. At Bain, if a man falls the team picks him up and keeps moving. No man left behind.” Also present was a 2010 Penn Graduate Julio Erdos, who having studied Mechanical Engineering found himself drawn to consulting. Julio asserted that he had not known early on that he would want to do consulting, however he also maintained that he is incredibly happy working where he is. He corroborated Mike Gomez’s statement about the family community at Bain and asserted that the variety of cases was also part of Bain’s appeal. Because any company can come with a complex problem, Bain consultants have to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative skills with a bit of creativity to get the job done. In the end, both Mike and Julio encouraged the all rising juniors to apply to Bain’s Building Entrepreneurial Leaders program in August to get a stronger feel for the consulting industry and to begin making connections if Bain is a company any member would like to work for post-Penn.