Is it possible for an undergrad to be hired as an associate or junior associate?

I am doing my best not to dox myself, but I am an older student at a top target school (between 26 and 31) pursuing a career in consulting with MBB. I applied to college later because I started working immediately after high school instead of attending college. I am itching to begin working again and, therefore, don't necessarily want to pursue a master's right away. With that being said, I feel that I would add greater value as a Junior associate or associate rather than a business analyst. 

So, as stated above, is it possible for an undergrad to get hired as a junior associate or associate following graduation and a successful internship?

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I'll caveat saying I am UK-based, but since at MBBs, we typically have a very standardised system, I would expect that while at Bain you should be able to come in as an Associate Consultant, bear in mind that this is like BA at McK or Associate at BCG.

Hierarchy goes:

  • Analyst-type: BA / A / AC
  • Typical Consultant: A / C / C (I'm ignoring the JAs / SACs)
  • Managers: EM / PL / M to SM

The entry-level Analyst is for undergrads / recent grads, while usually in the US the McK Associate or BCG / Bain Consultant is a post-MBA role (also PhD / JD / MD, I believe). I am not sure if those can be reached by lateralling later in your career. However, I am pretty sure those are not accessible to recent grads.

You might want to double check with someone US based or even jus emailing the recruiting teams in your nearest MBB office.

 

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