Non-traditional APD candidate (humanities PhD + 9 yrs SWE)

Looking for advice from anyone who has recruited as an Advanced Degree candidate or has hired them at MBB.

Quick background: I'm currently a PhD candidate in a humanities field at a private university (top 5, ivy), roughly two years out from defense, and I've also done two humanities-adjacent masters at the same institution along the way. Before the PhD, I spent about nine years as a software engineer at two well-known tech companies (one FAANG and one FAANG-adjacent), mostly in mid-to-senior IC roles doing infra and ads-adjacent work. My undergrad was at a top public university where I double-majored in CS and Finance.

The main thing I'm trying to figure out is whether a non-STEM PhD is a real disadvantage for MBB APD recruiting or whether the SWE background will help me meaningfully offset it. On timing and prep, I'm assuming the formal APD cycle for my graduation year is roughly 12–14 months out, but I want to start coffee chats / networking and casing well before then. I'd appreciate any takes on what I should actually be doing now versus six months from now versus closer to applications. Thanks all!!