McKinsey Employment Screening DACH

Employment screening through Certn is pretty standard. Here's what typically happens.

They verify basic facts. The screening company contacts your past employers' HR departments and confirms job title, employment dates, and sometimes whether you left in good standing. That's usually it.

They don't ask about your tasks or performance. HR departments generally only confirm factual information. They won't describe what you did or how well you did it. That's not their role in a background check.

Since you didn't provide a reference person, they'll likely contact the general HR contact at each company. For larger companies, this is routine. For smaller ones, they might reach out to whoever handles employment records.

What you should make sure:

Your resume matches reality. If you said you were there from March to August, make sure that's accurate. If your title was "Intern" but you wrote "Analyst Intern," that could cause confusion. Keep it consistent.

Don't stress about minor things. A few days off on dates usually isn't a problem. They're looking for major discrepancies, not small differences.

If something on your resume is unclear or slightly different from official records, be ready to explain it if asked. Most issues get resolved with a simple clarification.

Bottom line: it's a verification check, not an investigation. As long as you've been honest about where you worked and when, you'll be fine.

Hi there,

Employment screening for McKinsey via Certn is usually very straightforward, especially for Analyst roles in DACH. In most cases, past employers are only asked to confirm objective facts such as your job title, employment type (e.g. intern), and dates of employment. They typically do not ask about your responsibilities, performance, or detailed tasks.

The reason you’re not asked to provide a reference person is that these checks are often handled through HR or automated verification systems rather than individual managers. Certn is focused on verifying that what you listed on your CV is accurate, not on evaluating your work. It’s normal that HR wouldn’t know your exact tasks, and that’s not what they’re checking.

As long as your titles and dates are truthful and consistent with your application, there’s usually nothing to worry about. This is a standard compliance step rather than a qualitative assessment.

Best,
Evelina

That anxiety is totally normal, but rest assured, the background check is purely procedural. These screening firms, like Certn, are tasked with one thing: factual verification. They are acting as auditors, not evaluators, and are confirming only the low-risk, easily verifiable data points.

You are exactly right that since you didn't provide a manager reference, they are not contacting anyone for performance evaluations or details on your tasks. Instead, Certn generally reaches out to the corporate HR department (or uses outsourced third-party verification databases common in the DACH region) to confirm three things: start dates, end dates, and the formal job title (e.g., "Intern" or "Analyst").

Corporate HR departments are typically constrained by policy—and often local labor laws—to only provide this basic logistical information. They do not send an email asking for details on your specific deliverables or why you left the internship. As long as the dates and titles listed on your CV accurately reflect what is recorded in your former employer’s official HR system, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. This is the least complex part of the entire recruiting funnel.

All the best with the transition!

It is to make sure you’re the person you described to be and there are other people proving that with your employment/work history or criminal backgrounds or anything about your past eg citizen of sensitive countries because it has a big business in the United States to not break US laws for 

 it is designed to be impeccable so honesty is your best policy

Hi there, 

This differs from office to office. 

Typically, they either reach out to HR or to any contacts you might've mentioned in your role. 

They will then selectively go into more detail on certain roles and then potentially try to confirm what you did there with the person who was supervising you. 

Unless there are gross exaggerations about your role there, the process is pretty standard. 

Hope it goes smoothly!

Best,
Cristian 

hey there :)

For McKinsey DACH this employment screening is usually a basic verification via Certn where HR or an automated system at past employers confirms job title and employment dates, and sometimes contract type, but not detailed tasks or performance, so not naming a reference is normal and nothing to worry about as they are not asking managers to evaluate you; feel free to reach out if you want to talk it through in more detail. best, Alessa :)

Hi there,

Sometimes it's just an email with the recipient having to click to confirm the information, and sometimes it's a call.