Who can make the referral?

Question

Can anyone in the company (MBB), excluding HR, refer you, or does it need to be a consultant/principal/partner? Meaning people in internal departments, operations, etc. if they have high ranking positions.

Answer 1

Hi,

Does not agree with Guennael:

At McKinsey Alumni cannot make a referral, however, they can ask their friends who still work in a company
Partners have more weight, however, they will be too lazy to submit the referral and thus you can have an opposite effect - partners sending the resume to the HR and asking to check the person. The results may vary. In other words - you should know the partner really well
It can be any consultant / researcher (not HR).
The person should not necessarily be your coworker in the past. But he has to provide some details on why he thinks you are a good candidate

Best

Answer 2

Anyone, yes - even alumni. Just remember they don't all have the same weight.

All else equal, the following have highest value:

1. More senior person, obviously. Holy Grail here is getting a Partner referral

2. Some who's worked WITH you

3. Someone who has a solid reputation inside the firm

Answer 3

I just confirmed, an alumni can indeed make a referral, even at McK - at least if he/she used to be in recruiting.

Answer 4

Can confirm for Bain as well, any current employee can make a referral, but of course it will carry more weight based on seniority and reputation, and to some extent just how well they know the recruiters.

An alumnus can definitely make a referral via email but I am not sure whether they would be able to make a referral through the Bain internal system.