MBB Cover letter via recommendation

Question

Hello,

I wrote my master thesis under the supervision of a MBB consultant in her educational leave. It worked out well and she offered to forward my application. Besides her I had no contact to the company before.

I usually start my cover letter with 'why this company' and outline any previous experiences I had with them. However, in this case I believe talking about the company's employees and culture is a little far-fetched based on this one person I know.

Do you have any recommendation on how to start? Also, what are you thought on name-dropping (also knowing that my supervisor will read the cover letter)?

Best regards

Answer 1

Hi A,

I agree with Andrea and either don't see any problem in explaining the "why this company" describing impressions you got from interaction with the person working there. Mentioning her name would be also OK.
Besides, you can describe your opinion based on information you got from other sources (articles, reviews, etc.).

All together this might be the best option to start you CL with.

Best,

André

Answer 2

In this case, given the recommendation, name dropping is completely fine. I also not see an issue about having the “why this company” section based just on the impression of that one person that you trusted your academic career with and online publications, reviews, etc..

hope this helps.

andrea

Answer 3

Hi,

Given the background information that you provided I would suggest that you should use a standard CL structure “why Consulting”; “why X firm”; “why you”.

In the “why X firm” you can of course specify some details about your experience with current employees.

Just a small piece of advice - keep it as unique as possible. Try to refer to
Interesting facts that other candidates won’t mention.

Text me if you need some more advice

Answer 4

Hi,

You can definitely do that. But even better if a consultant who knows you could make a reference in the system. Thus you will significantly increase your chances to be invited for a test/interview and the consultant who made a reference will earn some money. Of course, it should be someone you know, not just a random person from Linkedin.

Typically if someone makes a reference he has to point out why you are a good fit for the company and something exceptional about you. So make sure that he has that information

Best,

Answer 5

You can always mention that you were inspired or interested by meeting someone - that never needs permission (as long as you aren't quoting them or commiting them in some way). But, in this case, it's probably not smart to mention the name for a few reasons

1) It sounds like it was a long time ago

2) It doesn't appear like a very strong relationship

3) Most importantly it sounds like the interview wasn't related to your interest in consulting, Usually people talk to current consultants in a recruiting context, and then it is more appropriate to say "i spoke to so-and-so about x,y,z in the consulting industry, i got interested, etc. etc."

Rule of thumb - if they were to mention your name to the partner, would they remember you? If yes, then it's okay - if no, I'd not do it.

Sri

Answer 6

Hi,

Absolutely, especially if you have talked with them multiple times and you're confident that they remember you. Sometimes the recruiting team refers to the names you mention in order to have a sanity check on your application - it helps put a face and personality to your application.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out and good luck with your application.

Best,

Carlos

Answer 7

Dear A,

Whether it's relevand to your current application?

Is this contact is strong enough?

Best,
André

Answer 8

That's a good start I think. You can share your experience and impressions by working with this MBB person, and also I would recommend smth which you can find in other sources.

I'm happy to help you. Drop me a line so that we can discuss it broader.

Cheers,

GB

Answer 9

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Answer 10

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Answer 11

This is a great, great question... that I suspect no-one can systematically answer :) Unless you have spent significa... (read entire answer)

This is a great, great question... that I suspect no-one can systematically answer :) Unless you have spent significant time working for or with all three, how can you truly com... (read entire answer)