Value of Referrals

Hey there,

No need to invest any more time into referrals and start preparing for the aptitude tests and interviews.

Congrats on the next stage!

All the best!

Florian

Hi there,

you only need one referral, not multiple. 

In general though:

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,

Look at the relationship between # of company touchpoints and interview invites:

Now, think about what the impact of a referral is.

Answer: It is significant.

A referral is a referral, regardless as to whether it is a friend or not. Generally, the higher the level, and the closer they are to your office, the more impactful the referral is.

Hi there,

1. After attending a flagship MBB Event, HR, after follow up that one is interested in the firm, reaches out with the referral email. Is there any value of getting another referral at that firm?

Not sure I understood the question. HR cannot refer you, only a current consultant can do so. If you already have some that referred you, you cannot have another one added to the system. However, the second person can still drop your email to HR and provide an “indirect” referral.

2. Friend at an MBB would refer me for a position at that firm. Assuming that my CV actually fits the requirements (not nepotism), is there any value in getting a non-friend at that firm to refer me?

Same as above – if you have been already formally referred, the person cannot formally refer you in the system but could drop your name to HR.

You can find more on how referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Referral

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi there, 

Any referral from a friend or non-friend is very helpful to get your footing in. If more than 1 person can vouch for you/your cv, thats all the more better

Good luck!

Basically, one referral is enough. 

The better that person knows you, the better the referral. 

Because then the referral is actually based on close knowledge rather than one chat that that person had with you. 

If you're struggling with getting referrals, you might find these two articles helpful:

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

Best,
Cristian

1. You only need one referral. The value of the second referral is zero.

2. All else equal, a referral from someone who knows you well (ideally from a working or studying setting) should be better that from someone who doesn't really know you.