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McKinsey office and partner referral insights

I’ve been trying to network my way into McKinsey and have been focused on securing a referral before officially applying, since I know how competitive the process is. I have an upcoming lunch with a partner from the office in the city where I’m currently based, and I wanted to ask a couple of questions. First, how much weight does a referral carry at McKinsey? I understand it’s not a guarantee or an automatic way in, but I’m curious about how much it actually helps in moving through the process. Second, does the size of the office play a role in how competitive it is to get in? The office I’m targeting is relatively small. From what I’ve been told, this particular partner essentially founded the office here. Does the fact that it’s a smaller, growing office work to my advantage, or does that not make much of a difference?

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Mihir
Coach
am 13. Juni 2025
McKinsey Associate Partner and interviewer | Bulletproof MBB prep

To your questions:

1) A Partner referral carries weight in that it helps significantly with getting to interview - especially for more senior experienced hires. Beyond getting that initial interview, it will not influence your chances much. Once you reach interview, the rest is down to your performance, held to the same bar as all other applicants.

2) It's hard to comment about the competitiveness of your office without knowing the region. But all McKinsey offices are competitive. The thing to focus on is sharpening your value prop. If (i) they are hiring for your role and (ii) they believe that you will add value (or indeed bring in business, if you're targeting AP or above) then they will make space for you.

Let me know if you need some help with the McKinsey process.

Hagen
Coach
am 16. Juni 2025
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 9+ years consulting, interviewing and coaching experience

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

  • First of all, a partner referral may help your application receive more serious consideration, but that's it. It won't help you with your first or final interview round.
  • Moreover, smaller offices typically attract fewer candidates, so your chances should not change. However, please keep in mind that for certain offices like New York City, San Francisco, and London, the ratio of applicants to available roles is significantly higher, so your statistical chances are lower. Nevertheless, I have helped candidates get offers from all three of the aforementioned offices for several years, so it is not impossible.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your application files, for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Phenyo
Coach
bearbeitet am 14. Juni 2025
Ex-McKinsey Consultant | Nova Top Talent - Madrid | McKinsey HiPo recruit | McKinsey Digital & Analytics

Mihir is spot on.

To lightly echoe on the point of competitiveness being the same across, keep in mind that you are hired into the global firm and not just your office. So the bar for talent needs to be top across as you may be staffed across regions in many instances 

am 14. Juni 2025
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success: ➡ interviewoffers.com | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

Well done on securing the lunch with the partner! In terms of your questions:

1) First, how much weight does a referral carry at McKinsey? 

I don’t think it is possible to get an exact value for the weight, but it's better to have a referral than not have one, so you are doing the right thing trying to leverage one. A referral will increase your chances, but not guarantee an interview.

2) Second, does the size of the office play a role in how competitive it is to get in?

It depends on the supply/demand situation for that office. 

Ideally, you want to have:

  1. Low demand for job positions (meaning, very few people apply to that office)
  2. High supply of job positions (meaning, your target office is trying to hire a lot of people)

A small office might have a low demand for job positions because only few candidates apply there, but if it also has low supply compared to a bigger office, your chances could be lower than a bigger office.

Additionally, you will still need to have a good performance in the interview. Even if you are the only candidate applying and they need to hire a lot of consultants, if your performance is poor, they will still not extend an offer.

Good luck!

Francesco

am 16. Juni 2025
#1 Rated McKinsey Coach | Top MBB Coach | Verifiable success rates

Hi there,

These are great questions.

Let me take them one by one.

Referrals do help a lot. If you think about the screening process as a 'point-based system,' it's like the referral gives you a few extra 'points' that increase your probability of passing screening. So does a great CV and cover letter and Solve score. 

Formally, the size of the office doesn't matter because the hiring standards are the same. But the reality is that some offices e.g., London / NY are super competitive because they are so many people applying so the top firms can have their pick. 

Best of luck with the process! Adding here a guide you might find helpful as you start strategising on your approach to the process:


Best,
Cristian

Mariana
Coach
am 14. Juni 2025
Free CV evaluation | xMckinsey | 1.5h session | +200 sessions | Free 20-min introductory call

Hello there,

Adding to the points made: if you're not an experienced hire, the referral will help your cv goes to the top of the pile - which is already something considering the amount of people applying everyday. If your CV is not good (and I don't mean your professional experiences, but literally your CV - there is a proper way to craft this document for consulting), the referral won't help you move to the next phase.

Best,

Mari

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