How much does referral seniority matter?

Hi there,

Honestly, take the referral!

While a higher level referral is preferred getting just a referral period greatly improves your odds.

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

If you have a referral - go for it. Something is better than nothing. If you are very hopeful of getting a more senior person to refer you then wait for it and take that chance.

Short answer - based on my experience, it typically does matter. 

However, if your profile is strong and competition not excessive your friend's referral might be enough to receive an interview.

Hello,

Seniority does matter somewhat, but the most important distinction is getting a referral vs. not getting a referral. Unless you are currently having conversations with a partner that you are fairly confident will translate into a referral a week or so from now, I would definitely ask the junior consultant for a referral.

Hi there,

Well, first of all you cannot ask him to refer you via someone else ;)

You can either go for the junior consultant referral or network with a more senior person.

• Can a junior consultant referral be effective? Yes.
• Is a referral from a partner more effective? Yes.

So in short, if you can find a way to get a referral from a partner, go for it, otherwise you can go for the junior consultant one.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

A referral is just a door opener such that the recruiting team will look through your application more thoroughly. Depending on the seniority, tenure and advocacy of the person referring you, you have a better chance of getting a first round interview. The more senior the person referring you is, the better. The longer the tenure of that person with the firm is, the better. 

The reason is that such voices carry more weight than referrals coming from super junior or brand new people. They typically know the HR folks better and have been involved in recruiting activities for a while so it is usually assumed that they have a good grasp of what types of candidates with which sets of qualifications the firm needs. But any referral is better than no referral.

Ideally, you get a referral from someone from the same office (or same country) you are applying to. But again, a referral from someone within the same firm but different country organization is still better than no referral.

A direct rejection after the CV screening stage can still happen - even with a referral. In that case the HR team usually provides some feedback to the person having given the referral. So you should follow up with them to better understand the rationale in case that happens. On the flipside, you can still get an interview invite when you just apply online without a referral - the probability is just lower on average.

And as always, factors such as economic conditions and headcount/budget planning of the individual firm also matter significantly in these decisions - but they are not within your control.

Best

Hey there,

It does matter, however, since partner referrals are hard to get and you already have a referral now, just take the one you have and go ahead. It should be fine!

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Cheers,

Florian

I'll say what other coaches have already said, just to support the point.

• A referral is worth much more than no referral
• Seniority matters, so partner referral is better than a consultant

1. Yes seniority will always matter naturally

2. Referral by junior is still better than no referral at all

… I guess this reiterates what others have said. Best of luck!