Referal

In most cases, it’s more effective to contact consultants rather than HR for a referral:

• Consultants can submit internal referrals, which usually carry more weight in the application process
• They’ve been through the process themselves and can speak to your fit or help position your profile
• HR typically handles the logistics but doesn't usually champion individual applications unless you're already in the pipeline

That said, if you already know someone in HR or they’ve invited you to apply, it’s fine to ask them for next steps — just don’t rely on HR alone for referral traction.

Best bet: reach out to consultants (ideally in the target office or practice), build a short connection, and then ask if they'd be comfortable referring you.

For HR to provide a referral? 

HR doesn't provide referrals. Consultants do. 

A referral is basically a tap on the recruiter's shoulder from an existing consultants saying 'hey, i know this person, they would be a good fit.' What this does then is to increase your overall standing of your application, even though it's still not certain that you'll pass screening. 

You can consult these two guides on how to get referrals:

• Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals
• Expert Guide: How To Get Referrals Via LinkedIn?

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

100% consultants first.

As the other coaches have said, consultants advocate, but HR doesn't.

Suggestions as to how to get referrals:

• Your friends or family: Anyone you know in your target firm that you can ask?
• Your alum school: Reach out to people on Linkedin, have a chat with them and then ask. Reach out to your alum career coach - they will probably be able direct you to someone who works at your target firm and can make an intro.
• Your current company: Did anyone from your current place of work go to your target firm? Reach out to them.

• Then you can cold Linkedin/ email/contact people from the target firm. 

  Good luck and happy to chat. 

Hi there,

Q: Is it worth contacting the HR rather than the consultants for a referal?

HR cannot provide a referral (that would be a direct conflict of interest, as they are the ones normally doing the screening). Therefore, you should contact a consultant for a referral.

On the other hand, if you have a chance to interact with HR (for example, during events) and you manage to leave a good impression, that could be positive.

You can find some tips for networking below:

▶ How to Get an MBB Interview

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

Just to clarify: a referral will help your CV be evaluated in an ocean of resumes. Talking to HR won’t help in this situation, the best thing to do is to get a consultant’s referral. That will signal to HR that this person believes that your profile is suitable for a consultant position. Better if it comes from a senior manager.

Good luck!

Best,

Mari

Hi there,

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

• While there may be other reasons to contact the recruiter, you must contact current consultants for a referral, as recruiters typically cannot provide referrals.

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 for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

HR people usually do not refer people for consulting positions. You are better off contacting people who work in the consulting profession. A few more words:

A referral is just a door opener such that the recruiting team will look through your application more thoroughly. Depending on the seniority, tenure and advocacy of the person referring you, you have a better chance of getting a first round interview. The more senior the person referring you is, the better. The longer the tenure of that person with the firm is, the better.

The reason is that such voices carry more weight than referrals coming from super junior or brand new people. They typically know the HR folks better and have been involved in recruiting activities for a while so it is usually assumed that they have a good grasp of what types of candidates with which sets of qualifications the firm needs. However, any referral is ultimately better than no referral. 

Ideally, you get a referral from someone from the same office (or same country) you are applying to. But again, a referral from someone within the same firm but different office or country organization is still better than no referral.

A direct rejection after the CV screening stage can still happen - even with a referral. In that case the recruiting team usually provides some feedback to the person having given the referral. So you should follow up with them to better understand the rationale in case that happens. On the flipside, you can still get an interview invite when you just apply online without a referral - the probability is just lower - particularly when your CV is not “stellar” on a standalone basis.

And as always, factors such as economic conditions and headcount/budget planning of the individual firm also matter significantly in these decisions - but they are not within your control.

Best

Only consultants can provide referrals, not HR.

Think of a referral as a form of pre-screening done by a consultant—this helps recruiters review your application more thoroughly and increases your chances of landing an interview.

Best,

Alberto

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Explore my latest case inspired by a real MBB interview: TitanTrail - Operations Outsourcing

No. HR does not provide referrals. Consultants do.

Hey there, 

It's consultants that do the referrals, so leverage them for that

That said, you can contact HR for other purposes or even recruiting to ask about the referral process. But ultimately, consultants will refer 

All the best