Would I be considered an "experienced hire" at MBB with 1.5 years at a quantitative hedge fund?

With 1.5 years at a quantitative hedge fund, you’re in a bit of a gray zone, but here’s how MBB generally views it:

 Not Quite “Experienced Hire”

At MBB, experienced hire typically means 2+ years of post-undergrad work and enough seniority or specialization to skip the entry-level training path. You’re just under that threshold. Also:

• Most experienced hire roles involve at least 2–3 years, and often a distinct career shift, like industry to consulting, or a vertical (e.g. healthcare, digital) move.
• MBB wants to see whether your background justifies skipping their structured onboarding (e.g. business fluency, leadership, client maturity, etc.).

More Likely: “Off-cycle” Junior Hire

With 1.5 years of experience, especially from a prestigious, highly analytical field like quant finance, you’re:

• Overqualified for pure undergrad roles,
• But still likely funneled into Associate/Business Analyst (BA) or equivalent tracks — depending on the firm and region.

You can often apply off-cycle (i.e., not through strict campus timelines), especially if you’re not a recent graduate. But you’ll still go through full case + PEI (fit) interviews.

What You Should Do

1. Apply as a regular full-time hire, not internship, even if your title ends up BA/Associate.
2. Be clear on your story: why the shift from quant to consulting, why now, and why MBB.
3. If you’re targeting a particular office, check if they allow non-campus applications off-cycle (many do).
4. Consider reaching out via LinkedIn or alumni to HR or consultants for informal advice or referrals.

Let me know if you want help framing the “Why MBB, why now?” narrative — it’s what will make or break your app in this edge case.

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, contrary to what other coaches have said, you unfortunately most likely do not qualify as an experienced hire with only 1.5 years of work experience, regardless of the industry you come from; some of your experience is usually discounted, and as a result, there's almost no work experience left.
• Moreover, you most likely also do not qualify for campus recruiting anymore. Instead, I would advise you to apply via the full-time application channel, aiming for the entry-level role.
• Lastly, I truly admire that in this overly status-focused industry - or even in the career world in general - there are still people like you who value personal development and long-term growth over status.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your application files, for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Generally speaking 1.5 years is a bit on the shorter end, though it is not impossible to be considered.

The best is to actually ask the recruiting team in the office / region you are targeting. This is somewhat fluid depending on the office / region. There is no global standard # of years. 

Best,

Emily 

Hi,

With your work experience at a hedge fund, 1.5 years should be sufficient to follow the experienced hire track. Following this track has the advantage you can apply all year round. 

Good luck with your preparation.

Mattijs

Hello,

Probably not. Usually experienced hires have at least 2 years of experience.

However in campus recruiting is for recent graduates, you’ll have to apply through the standard mean.

Make sure you get a referral, it will help a lot for your CV to be evaluated. And of course, the CV is the key for your acceptance to the process, see if it highlights your accomplishments in the consulting way (may be worthy to hire a coach for that).

Best,

Mari

Hi there,

Q: I'm trying to determine whether I need to be in the campus recruiting cycle or not.

If you have already graduated, you normally cannot apply via campus recruiting. With 1.5 years of experience, they will most likely consider you for an entry-level position, possibly with a few months of seniority.

Good luck!

Francesco

Ask a recruiter and see.

My guess is that you would come in as a Junior Associate (in-between campus-level Business Analyst and post-MBA Associate).

Junior Associate is not quite an experienced hire role. It's entry-level, but with a slightly higher salary than Business Analyst to acknowledge that you have worked for a little while before.

Yes, even though that's not so much experience. 

Basically, if you are not a grad hire, then you are an experienced hire. In most regions, you are a grad hire if you're under a year since graduation. 

Nevertheless, it always best to check these things directly with the recruits from that specific offices. Some of them also make exceptions in this process in terms of what recruitment journey they enrol you in.

Best,
Cristian 

As far as process goes, yes — if you’re not coming from undergraduate or graduate school, you’re on the experienced hire pipeline. 

Leveling wise, you’d be a first year.