Question regarding referrals

Question

Hello everyone,

I recently graduated with an undergraduate pre-med biology degree, and I am trying to transition into consulting. My background is fairly nontraditional. have experience in the military and sales, but no prior consulting internships or consulting-related experience. I only discovered consulting about 4 months ago.

Because of this, I believe referrals would be especially important to help avoid getting screened out early (e.g., ATS/initial resume screening). I did several LinkedIn coffee chats, and two consultants (one from Bain and one from McKinsey) told me they would be willing to refer me.

However, after I submitted my applications, I followed up with both of them and haven’t received any replies. I completely understand consultants are busy, so I’m not sure how am I supposed to act.

At the same time, I received a McKinsey Solve invitation only 2 days after applying.

My question is: should I assume the referrals never actually happened and continue looking for additional referrals, or is this fairly normal and I should just trust the process / focus on the next steps?

Answer 1

Hi,

My point of view: If you already received a McKinsey Solve invitation two days after applying, then you've effectively achieved the main objective of a referral. Referrals are useful for increasing the chances of getting past the initial screening stage, and in your case that already happened.

For Bain, I would follow up one more time with the consultant. If you still don't receive a response, I would assume they're either too busy or no longer interested in referring you, and I'd look for alternative contacts instead.

At this point, I'd focus much more on performing well in Solve and preparing for potential interviews than on chasing additional McKinsey referrals.

In case you need help with McKinsey Solve, feel free to get in touch. I've helped several candidates already.

Best,
Franco