How does the referral works?

Question

Hello everyone,

I have been networking to get a referral.

I am a bit confused as to how the referrals actually work?

Can somebody please shed some light on how the referrals works?

1 - A partner forwarding the resume to the HR team - Is this a referral?

2 - A consultant or associate refers from his system and then getting a link on my email address to fill the application? - Is this a referral?

Also how many referrals actually converts. I do not have any brand names on my CV but have all the skills which MBB is looking for. I have seen MBB focusing on brand names too much. Does having a referral rules out that criteria for me if they feel I have the right skills?

Answer 1

Hey there,

Both ways would be a referral.

Referrals usually have two benefits:

They increase your chances to get an interview invitation, especially when your resume is lacking some of the things MBB is looking for (e.g., brand names)
They can speed up the screening process and you will receive the interview invitation earlier

They are never a guarantee though, just an additional boost for your application.

Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 2

Both your examples are referrals of sorts.

Broadly, you can consider referrals to be a pile of “must look” resumes. It is a bad lemon / good lemon theory. The going assumption is tending to believe that if a person if skilled enough and driven enough - they will find a way to get a referral.

This immediately gives more weight to the CVs in the referral pile. However, the success/failure depends entirely on your performance in the process. Referrals in consulting do not generally impact your final success rate.

Answer 3

Hi there,

1 - It does depend on “how” they forward. If they say you're a great candidate and they should take a look at your resume, that's essentially a referral! If they say “x person have some questions about applying, can you help them”, that's not!

2 - Yes!

3 - There's no hard and fast number for this, but referrals seriously help and do dramatically increase your chances…put simply…get referrals!

Answer 4

Both but a referral is really not that formal where the only assurance is that your CV gets the full attention of a recruiter.

Brand names are often used to gauge the level of achievement (e.g., selectivity, impact, etc.) and at the same time, the majority of MBB clients are large brands where the experience is more transferrable. Either way, a referral definitely will help with getting the attention to your profile and so I would just trust the process.

Good luck!