How often does firm do reference check?

Hi there,

Generally speaking, most consulting companies normally do either one of the two types of checks.

In my experience, it depends on the region and company you're applying to and your specific situation. Ask yourself the following questions, they might guide you:

• Is the country I'm applying to known for actively involving reference checks in the recruiting process - at least during the screening stage (the U.S. is a good example for that)? For most European countries, for instance, this is not the case.
• Is the company known for being suspicious about information in applications? For instance, several consulting companies have included a “background check” passage in their offers to be able to withdraw an offer if anything pops up.
• Is there anything peculiar about my application that might want the company to check the references? Examples for that would be an unusual number of projects (few in a long time/ many in a short time) for project-based activities or odd wordings in the interim report.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on the two options and the possible activities you would like to perform before your career entry, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Were you actually asked to provide references? In that case it’s more likely that they’ll get in touch. Generally though, I wouldn’t expect it.

At McKinsey, the extent to which they want to know from your former employer is limited to the basic info provided in CV. This is indeed covered with the background check.

I joined the firm as an Experienced Hire and was never asked to provide references. Almost seems like a thing of the past but curious to hear if there’s different experiences in MBB!

Hello!

Background checks are nothing to be worried about, as long as you haven´t lied (e.g., saying that you graduated from Uni X when you didn´t, or that you worked in Company Y 2 years instead of 6 months). Minor things, such as 1 month differences, etc. don´t matter. 

Most of the times, they are done by 3rd party companies to which the job is externalized. If they find any discrepancy, they contact you first and clarify it with you. 

For instance, with the MIT background check I had the issue that the external name of my Amazon job is not the same as the one Amazon uses internally -and that was the name given in the certificated that Amazon gives oficially-. It was easily solved by an HR doc that explained that both were the same thing. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

It completely depends on the firm! MBB isn't known to do it much. I personally have never worked for a company that called up my references.

That said, just expect that they will. Put down your best references and let them know in advance that they will be contacted.

Its varied by country & company. I dont there is a strict rule on doing reference checks in addition to background checks. 

In UK, reference checks are not without your prior permission and even this is being done with much reduced frequency over the past 3-5 years in my experience.

Regardless, my advice will be to have 2-3 good referees always in hand, who you can call upon to vouch for you if needed. So, keep those relationships and trust alive!

Hello there,

It's not very common to do reference check, especially for junior roles. I have met just a couple of cases, that were motivated by something not very clear (and transparent) on the CV.

Luca