Referral

Hi there,

in addition to the other comments, here a general overview on your question 1):

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 (manager level and above) 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. But any referral is 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 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 HR 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 on average.

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

Hi there,

1)Please can anyone tell, that is it true that a referral from a partner weighs more as compared to a referral from an analyst or manager?

In general, the greater the seniority, the more effective is a referral.

I would recommend to target a referral from Manager above. However, any referral is better than no referral, so if you cannot find that, a referral from an analyst would be fine.

Partners are the most influential people in the company so if you have the option to get a referral from a partner, definitely go for it.

2) What are the roles open to Master graduates(Without prior work experience) in the middle east at MBB and Tier 2 firms?

If by Master you mean non-MBA, in general should be an entry-level role (Analyst at McK, Associate at BCG and Bain).

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

1)Please can anyone tell, that is it true that a referral from a partner weighs more as compared to a referral from an analyst or manager?

Yes it absolutely does. That said, a referral from anyone is valuable, so try not to write off lower level referrals!

2) What are the roles open to Master graduates(Without prior work experience) in the middle east at MBB and Tier 2 firms?

Pretty much entry level or consultant level (depends). The best way to find out exactly where you would fit and which roles are actually open, you should network!

Funnily enough, both points 1 & 2 can be addressed optimally through networking. Two birds, one stone :)

Hey,

Any referral is better than no referral. And yes, seniority does matter, so a partner referral is better than a consultant.

For Master without any work exp, you will be looking at entry level roles (Analysts).

All the best.

Hello!

To your 1st question, yes, it does. Howecer, this does not mean that the other referrals are nor woth it, coz they are, and they work. 

Cheers, 

Clara

1. Getting a referral is better than not getting one. Keep that in mind. Of course higher rank consultants have more weight. But what really matters is having that referal (and if possible a good one, i.e., from someone who atually believes in you and can be an advocate)

2. Roles to Masters without work experience? Any entry level role.