It's very effective.

Whether it is officially true or not, you should network.

I know this for a fact.

At Stern, I ran a data analytics project to determine what factors affected successful recruiting (interview invites). The #1 controllable factor to improve your chances was networking.

The ways to do so I provide here: Master Your Job Hunt with Proven Strategies 

But remember…a referral is one component of the application. You want to get all of them as right as possible.

Hi there,

Q: Networking and fostering relationship with the school/office recruiter can also be beneficial to landing interviews for consulting firms in addition to getting referrals from consultants. Is that true? 

I don’t think it harms to have a good connection with HR, but I don’t believe it is needed if you already have a referral from a consultant.

You can find more on referrals below:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi,

there is no downside in networking and fostering relationships. So you should definitely spend time on that (in general) to increase your chances for additional pathways in the future. 

For the CV screening stage, you want to make sure that your credentials are being looked at in detail to determine whether you get a first round interview invite. A consultant referral will have that effect. If you know the HR person screening the CVs through networking, it might have that effect too. In any case, your CV needs to be adequate. Nobody will just pass you through the process merely based on them thinking you are a likable person.

Best

A few years ago it was common practice to have the campus leader taking notes on the candidates they believe would be higher potential, and that information will be taken into account when reviewing the CVs and chosing who to interview. 

I don't know if that changed - but my guess is that at least some firms will still be doing that.