Will a referral for a European BCG office, prevent my from obtaining another referral for a US office, or vice versa?

Question

I currently have a referral secured for a European Office, i.e. it will be submitted as soon as I ask them to. I am currently also looking at working in the US, and am trying to obtain referrals there, and was curious how one referral might affect the other. How interconnected are global recruiting efforts? Could I also use my European Referral to submit US office preferences?

Thank you very much in advance!

Answer 1

Hello!

A few important things here:

You can be referred by multiple people -but if one referral works, the rest are not-needed and a duplication-
You can be referred by peopel who are from other offices
A referrer can also refer you to two offices BUT you can only have one process at a time with a company (e.g., if you are referred to BCG NY and London and you start the process in London, the other one does not continue further)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 2

Hi there,

You cannot have two competing applications. As such you cannot have two competing referrals to two offices.

Don't bother with the US referral unless you think you can get it with minimal effort (If maximizing time for other activities) - you already have a referral locked in!

Tell your European referer your office preferences. He/She will put these preferences down when submitting their referral. You can absolutely tell them US office #1 European office #2

Answer 3

Hi there,

Why don't you tell your european referrer about your preferences for the US?

Even though a local referral is stronger, a referral from another office is still a referral and doesn't lose its value.

Cheers,

GB

Answer 4

Hi, the referral from another office is strong only if the consultant is senior (principals or partners)

Best,
Antonello

Answer 5

Certainly the referral is stronger when it comes from somebody that local HR in the office where you're applying knows. And I agree with Ken: check with your referral giver on the guardrails of the internal referral system.

Answer 6

Why not just ask to be referred directly to a BCG US office. If not, I'm sure your contact knows people there an can put in a good word that will help you both build a network as well as get a local referral.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Hi,

When you are referred in the system, you can select up to 3 offices and set % of how much you desire the particular office. Thus, you can have just one referral and your preferences for multiple countries

Best

Answer 8

Typically referrals are for the office the person referring you is from. This is because this is where they have the most leverage. You can ask the person to also refer you to the US but note that this will not be viewed favorably as you need to pick the location before applying.

Udayan