Bain TestGorilla Practice Questions

Numerical Reasoning — sample question

Acme Corp's Q1 revenue was $84M; Q2 was $97M. A competitor grew 12% over the same period from a base of $110M. By what percentage did the competitor's Q2 revenue exceed Acme's Q2 revenue?

Approach: competitor Q2 = 110 × 1.12 = 123.2. Difference = 123.2 − 97 = 26.2. As a % of Acme's Q2: 26.2 / 97 ≈ 27%. Answer: ~27%. The trick is rounding 1.12 × 110 to 123 in one mental step — exact arithmetic costs you 20 seconds you don't have.

Business Judgment — sample question

Your client, a regional grocery chain, wants to grow profit by 15% next year. The CEO is considering: (A) expanding into a new region, (B) launching a private-label product line, (C) renegotiating supplier contracts, (D) acquiring a smaller competitor. Which option should you prioritize for analysis first?

Best answer: (C). Supplier renegotiation has the shortest payback window and is the only option that directly improves margin without requiring capital or a multi-year horizon. (A), (B), and (D) are all valid but slower. Bain's Business Judgment rewards the option that most directly serves the client's stated objective on the given timeline.

Leadership & People — sample question

A junior team member misses a deadline for the second time this month, causing a partner to escalate to the client. What is the best first action?

Best answer: have a direct, private conversation with the team member to understand the root cause before deciding on next steps. The wrong answers are 'escalate to HR' (extreme) and 'reassign the work silently' (avoidant). Bain's Leadership section consistently rewards measured, root-cause responses.

Problem Solving — sample question

In a sequence: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?, the next number is which? Approach: differences are 4, 6, 8, 10 — increasing by 2. Next difference is 12, so the answer is 42. Recognizing the second-order arithmetic pattern in under 10 seconds is the skill being tested.

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