Ban system

Hi there,

1. The ban ranges between 6 and 24 months and it is applied based on the information provided when you sent the first application. The length depends on the company, the position you applied and your performance during interviews. When you apply, the information you provided such as name and email address is added to a global database that has the information on your previous applications. 
2. I think the real question is if you can apply again changing something in the application ;) I know some candidates who tried this applying online for MBB and it didn’t work. They were Chinese candidates so could use two different names and used two different email addresses and applied to different offices. Still, it may work for some companies with a less centralized system
3. In theory, all of them. In practice, I know people who were referred to a different office a few months after the rejection and got invited. However, the offices were on different continents

In short: if you want to try to apply again during the ban, the best strategy is to (i) target a different office and (ii) apply via referral (not online), being transparent you have been rejected before, and see if the person can help.

You will have to wait a bit in any case (minimum 6 months), and there are no guarantees it may work. If it leads to a rejection, you may have to wait additional time, so not sure it is worth it unless you know you will never apply again in the future.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hey there,

Since you already have some good answers here, I would like to add one thing about getting around a ban.

While I agree with Ian not to circumvent the ban with trickery, there is an actual and practical way to make it work for you (potentially).

Once banned, start networking, get some new referrals, and active discussions with consultants going.

I failed my McK internship interviews, yet was able to secure my full-time interviews much earlier than theoretically possible due to the ban. How? By networking while being abroad for my Masters, meeting up with consultants from the office, and helping them with their local recruiting efforts. When the time came to re-apply, I got referred to HR in my home country and 2 days later received the invitation for the PST and the interview day (without going through the electronic data processing, etc.).

Key point is to be creative and find ways to make it work.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

None of these answers matter...

If you're trying to get around the ban, don't. You will be found out. You are banned for x months. Wait until it's over and then re-apply! To confirm: The ban applies to you and sits across all offices for the whole company.

Hi,

to be honest, nobody can tell you how the ban system works in detail.

While using a new email address may certainly not harm, my best recommendation I can give is to still rather reflect why you had been rejected in the past and what you can do in order to change your odds for future applications.

Best,

Florian

The purpose of the ban is to ensure that when you re-apply you have materially different experiences for them to consider and re-interview you. This usually takes 2 years to happen as that gives you enough time to for example earn a new degree or develop a new expertize.  I would highly discourage you from applying sooner because it most likely will result in a rejection.

Note that hiring is global so if you get rejected from one office all office globally will know that (this is for sure at McKinsey but very likely also BCG and Bain)

Best,

Udayan