How comes MBB get away with hiring based on age? and it is illegal in most countries

Question

It is illegal to hire based on age in most countries but MBB tend to get away with it with no repurcussion. if we look at the statistics MBB hires few above 35 years old as associates though they don't mention age but we all know age must be a factor, if not how comes they hire very few in the above age category. So why is no action taken against them on that issues. Thanks

Answer 1

While I am not a lawyer, I can tell you that their hiring practices do not actively discriminate against older people. There are a few things that make it much more likely to get hired younger vs older

1. Most recruitment happens on campus - either after ungergrad or grad school and people are most often below 30 in these situations

2. Almost all partner promotes are from within - it is extremely difficult to come in as a partner unless you are already a partner at another firm.

3. The lifestyle is not conducive to older hires unaccostomed to the hours - I worked with some people who came into the firm in their early 40s and it was extremely stressful for them to adjust to 15 hour work days and working weekends. If you have not done this before it can come as a huge shock to you and is very difficult to adjust to.

Are there exceptions? Yes absolutely

Roles that are not 'traditional consulting' roles like implementation or digital roles or even software engineering roles are nothing like this and have a very different profile even from an age perspective
Some people join MBB later in their careers as experienced hires and do very well (they usually also come from other equally demanding careers)

At least in McKinsey ALL new hires had to start as an Associate - even those that joined as a partner had to start as an Associate and get promoted to partner (albeit in 1 to 2 years vs 6-9)

Udayan

Answer 2

As being deeply involved in recruiting for Bain, I would challenge your premise here. Age doesn't play a role when looking at candidate profiles. In fact, I don't even know the age when preparing interview invitations as it is not written on their CV.

Given that most hiring for the general consulting workforce happens at AC and Consultant levels, I feel there's a strong bias towards people <35 years in the applicant pool, for several reasons:

Most recruiting happens on campus of unvisities or business schools, which by definition have a bias towards younger folks
Given Consulting career trajectories, the main value of going into consulting is materialized at the beginnning of your career. If you are a senior executive already, there is little value in joining a consulting firm
If you're in a corporate role and have not made it to a senior role by the time you're 35, MBB will probably decide that you're not the candidate they are looking for for that reason
The lifestyle is definitely more suitable for younger people - this drives a lot of people out after a few years, and will certainly have a detracting effect on applicants

And with all of the above being said, I'm a good example for someone above average getting in: When I was at B-School, our Career Development Center told me exactly your premise: With 34 years you won't get into MBB. I tried anyway and got offers from McK and Bain. Age was never even mentioned in any of my conversations with either firm.

Answer 3

Hi there,

MBB hire people above 35, although fewer as you mentioned. Udayan summed up nicely some reasons. I myself helped several people who were 35+ in joining MBB.

Besides what mentioned by Udayan, I find it quite natural that there are fewer hires for people who are older – there are fewer slots.

The structure of MBB is a pyramid (as in many organizations), with fewer people at the top. If you are older, you are usually hired at higher positions (normally you don’t want to join as an analyst or associate if you are 35+ and have the proper skills for an MBB job). Given there are fewer positions needed, this also implies fewer people hired from outside the organization for those positions compare to more junior ones.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 4

Hi,

MBBs are hiring most of the experienced hires for associate / consultants roles. These roles assume 4-6 years of experience.

My question to you is what are you trying to achieve? MBB lifestyle is very very tough, and if you are joining too late, you might face several issues:

People way younger than as your managers
Not enough energy to maintain 16+ hours workday

It's not a joke - you can not sustain this environment when you are older

Best