There are a few factors at play here to consider:
1) Most firms only offer referral bonus for candidates that would not have otherwise been picked up by the standard campus recruiting process. If you are at a target school and going for an internship then likely there is no referral bonus & hence no financial incentive for staff to refer you.
2) Referrals are usually based on long term relationships where the person knows and can vouch for the quality of your work. Meeting for one coffee etc. does not really give the person enough information about your professional competence 
3) It may not be the case, but the way you worded your question suggests that you are approaching networking from a very transactional point of view. It is absolutely worthwhile networking, but your goal in networking should be to develop long term relationships where you can give at least as much value as you take. It will rarely be successful if you are just looking to gain something for yourself in the short term

Hope this helps.

Kurt

Hi there,

I agree with Kurt here.

At face value it appears you are networking wrong. Consider hiring a coach to help you adjust your approach (referrals greatly improve your chances of getting an interview, so think about the immense ROI this can produce).

Remember referrals aren't just a system/online portal referral. They're also as simple as the Partner forwarding your resume to HR/The Recruiter, cc'ing you, and telling them to have a look at your profile.

Hey there,

Definitely not true. You should definitely network and score some referrals!

However, I think summer internship applications are mostly done by now (not sure if you are talking about next summer?)

Cheers,

Florian 

Hi there,

First of all, you can absolutely land a referral for any role - I have experienced this myself for all MBB when I did my MBA. 

That's of course if we consider an internal endorsement note from a firm member (Associate, Manager, Partner, etc.) to HR a referral and don't just focus on the ‘formal’ referral system. However, getting a commitment from someone to endorse your application/provide a referral is something you have to earn and doesn't happen automatically for everyone. 

It's possible you engage those people in the wrong way, which we should get to the bottom of. Coaching can help a great deal here, which I would recommend at this point.

Let me know if you'd like to learn more!

Hi there, 

It depends on bit on geography / office, but generally referrals work for internships as well, so I would still do it. 

And even if somehow the referrals don't count, then you're still going to learn a lot from connecting with these people. 

Best,
Cristian

There are informal referrals for summer internships in the sense that if a consultant thinks you have high potential then they will let the recruiting team know.  This is the same way referrals work in the majority of cases where the formal referral process with the referral bonus is used mainly for experienced hires coming from industry (i.e., McKinsey won't give a referral bonus for someone to refer their best friend at HBS, etc.).

Hello!

 I can tell you by 1st hand experience that it´s not true: people do get referrals for internship. I made several myself in McK. 

Cheers, 

Clara