How does referral work?

Question

Hi,

I have been reaching out to MBB offices to network/coffee chat, I usually at the end email them and ask them if they think there is someone else I should talk to and they mostly pass on another contact. for McKinsey & Bain I have been able to coffee chat a few BAs and ACs respectively. I have an upcoming coffee chat with a principal at BCG at the office I want to apply to. Anyway, wanted to ask if my coffee chats keep track of people who reached out/talked to on a database at the office or do i need to officially asl for a referral?

Answer 1

Hi there,

It’s unlikely that someone will refer you after just one coffee chat, without you explicitly discussing it with them.

My suggestion would be to nurture a bit more of a relationship first (maybe a couple of meetings) and then ask for a referral.

An alternative would be to look for MBB employees from your school’s alumni network - they might be more willing to immediately refer you.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

You're doing a great job with your networking. Just keep in mind that MBB firms don’t usually track informal coffee chats in a central system. So unless someone explicitly refers you, the firm likely won’t know about the conversation.

If you had a good connection, felt positive engagement, or got helpful advice, it’s completely fine to ask for a rreferral. So it's up to you to gaugz the level of connection made during the chat.

Answer 3

Hi!

It’s great that you’re actively networking and setting up coffee chats—that definitely helps build connections. Usually, your contacts won’t automatically track every coffee chat in a formal database, so it’s a good idea to be clear and polite if you want to ask for a referral.

If you’ve built a good rapport, you can mention that you’re very interested in applying and ask if they’d be comfortable referring you or guiding you through the next steps. Since you have a chat coming up with a principal, that could be a good moment to bring it up once you’ve established a connection.

Keep nurturing those relationships, and when the time feels right, an official referral ask usually works best when it’s personal and specific. Let me know if you want help drafting a message!

Alessa

Answer 4

Hi there,

No, they don't keep track of that.

And ideally you don't ask directly for a referral.

See the coffee chat as primarily informative. Ask questions you are generally interested in - about the job, the recruiting process, the experience of the person you're talking to.

If the conversation goes well, you might indirectly ask for a referral. I explain more about how to do it in the following articles that you might find useful:

Best,
Cristian

Answer 5

Hi,

You need an official referral. Feel free to ask those people for one (there are good articles covering how to do it here) and there is no problem to have more than one per firm.

Best,

Mari

Answer 6

They don't necessarily keep track. And they have to be the ones volunteering a referral.