Experienced Hires vs. Fresh Graduates

1. Yes, I do expect more from an experience hire.

2. I expect a higher level of maturity and ownership, better examples in the personal experience interview, and a higher understanding of how business works / higher business sense, and a bit more maturity in the interaction and communication.

Hi there,

1. Yes

2. The bar is higher across all the interview parts. I would highlight business sense, communication, fit interview (that should be based on your professional achievements) and executive presence, depending on how many years of experience you have. If the interview is for an expert role, you to will have to convey that subject knowledge too.

Best,

Mari

Hi there, 

Yes expectation would be higher for experienced hire. Mostly in the following areas:

• Business acumen
• Ability to do independent thinking
• Communication
• Maturity 

Best,

Emily

Hi,

1) yes, they do expect more from an experienced hire. This is also reflected in your starting level/position and compensation package.

2) Client relationship; internal/ external communication; leadership

Let me know if you have further questions.

Mattijs

Hello!

In all honesty, experienced hires are proving to be quite hard to integrate into MBB. They are much harder to mold, there is much to learn about our ways of working and everyone already has high expectations about you. 

So for sure we are expecting much more from experienced hires on the interview process to "make it worth it". 

I would say a good way to stand out (of course, depending on your area of expertise) is showing you have established client relationships, think in a very structured way and have amazing interpersonal skills (easiness of approaching new people, ability to sell yourself, being rememberable). 

I know those are not easy or obvious things to "train", but I assure you it will be on the interviewer's mind. 

Hello,

The expectation is higher, but this also depends on the depth of experience and position they are applying for. If a 1-2 years experienced hire, then it's a marginal difference. Generally, the expectation is around having better business judgement, domain/functional knowledge, maturity and better communication.

Best,

David

Hi, 

You've already received lots of answers, but I'd like to add my own experience of joining a consulting firm as a graduate, then moving to industry, and later returning to consulting as an experienced hire:

 The bar is simply just higher across all aspects, especially in:

• Business sense and acumen
• Communication and executive presence (gravitas)
• Maturity and ownership
• Structured thinking and problem-solving (You will create the project plan alone often)
• Client relationship and leadership experience
• Ability to add previous learnt experiences and wisdom to the problem
• Ability to manage team-members and difficult clients 

There is a greater sense to hitting the ground running.

I would also say, when you join as a graduate you join with other graduates and you all do things together, an experienced hire.. you're kind of alone - so you have to go out there and "find your own tribe."

Good luck and happy to chat!

Hey there, 

There's a distinction here that needs to be made.. Fresh graduates apply for more junior roles, and experienced hires would apply for more senior roles. (For example, a fresh graduate doesn't qualify for an Associate role with McKinsey / Bain nor a Consultant role with BCG etc.)

With that in mind, the expectation from an experienced hire is higher, but that also is because the role they are coming in would be higher vs that of a fresh graduate. 

An experienced hire should bring more business and common sense, some more expertise and better judgement, etc. 

All the best

Hi there,

1. More but how much more depends largely on the background and experience (can range from 3-15 years).

2. For the case: esp. better business sense and judgement, more case leadership; for the fit: more impact, more responsibility, more leadership; overall: more confidence and maturity.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

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

• Obviously, interviewers would expect more from an experienced hire candidate. However, it depends on tenure and background how much more interviewers would expect and in what areas.

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 for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Great question — this is something many candidates wonder about.

In general, the expectations for experienced hires and fresh graduates are calibrated slightly differently, even though the core qualities (structured thinking, problem-solving, and communication) remain the same.
 

Do we expect more or less from experienced hires?
For experienced hires, the bar is often different rather than strictly higher or lower. Interviewers expect candidates to show more maturity in handling ambiguity, stronger business judgment, and ideally an ability to draw on prior professional experiences to structure problems and communicate solutions clearly.

For fresh graduates, the focus is more on potential: raw analytical ability, coachability, and a clear capacity for growth in a client-facing environment.
 

Specific areas for experienced hires vs. fresh graduates:
For experienced hires, interviewers often look for:

    •    Evidence of leadership and ownership in prior roles.
    •    Ability to handle stakeholder communication (even in hypothetical cases).
    •    Transferable knowledge from industry or past roles that supports structured problem-solving.

For fresh grads, it’s more about:
    •    Logical thinking and intellectual curiosity.
    •    Adaptability and coachability.
    •    Strong academic performance as a proxy for analytical ability.

So the assessment is tailored to your background — but the fundamental goal is the same: identifying people who can thrive in the consulting environment.

Hope this helps!

Best,

Evelina