Referral from senior partner

It will gurantee that the recruitment team will go through your CV seriously but it does not guarantee an interview. Although McKinsey is a partnership, it is also highly meritocratic and an interview is given based on the merits of the CV. For example, a senior partner could be referring the child of one of their clients as a favour etc. where the recruiters are responsible to ensure that favourtism is not how interview invitations are given!

Hi, 

no, it works as any other referral. It increases your chances to be invited to the interview, but your CV and Cover Letter still have to be very strong. 

Cheers,

GB

Hi there,

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

No, it won't. You're profile needs to meet a minimum threshold, but it gets you there assuming your profile meets the minimum standard.

Hi,

Not 100%, but it will significantly increase your chances. The thing with senior partner referrals is that most probably it will not be done officially through the system. Partners usually just forward your resume to recruiters, while the recruiters can still reject it.

Best

Hi there,

Nothing in this life is gaurenteed...remember that!

That same applies for senior partner referrals. No referral of any nature will gaurentee your interview (even if in the same office). That said, it greatly increases your odds. If you have a solid resume, pass the HR phone screening, and the office has demand, then yes, you should at least get an interview...however none of those are gaurenteed!

Hey there,

Unfortunately not. It will definitely ensure that your application will be handled with priority and you might hear back sooner. Yet, you still need to pass the same bar (academic performance, career, experience abroad, extracurriculars) as everyone else.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi,

Unfortunately, 100% is not completely true. It'll definitely help you tho.

Best,

Antonello

Hello!

Not at all...

Only guarantees that the CV will be reviewed by HR. From there on, you are just another candidate and need to meet the bar. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara