Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about the rejection from McKinsey!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, I would not necessarily see a major development in your profile alone from receiving the internship offer without actually having done the internship. Still, in order to be certain, I would highly advise you to double-check with the person providing the referral whether he/she sees any chance that you may not be automatically rejected again, which would renew your ban period.
• Moreover, I would highly advise you to work on your interviewing skills as they have most probably been the aspect that got you rejected. Reflect on the feedback you received from McKinsey, and consider reaching out to a coach to get a neutral perspective on your current interviewing skills.
• Lastly, given that you were previously rejected, I would advise you to ensure that you reapply with the best possible application, including polished application files and a strong referral, which you have made sure of.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

in a situation like this, you have to be transparent, especially with the person offering to refer you. Ask them regarding the ban period or check with the recruiters yourself prior to applying again. 

6 months is not a whole lot out of a ban period that typically lasts 12-18 months. It sounds like you may have gotten an internship offer but you have not done the actual internship yet. So in terms of CV improvement, it looks promising but until you actually went through the full internship, you don't really have much delta to show for.

Just a thought:

Why don't you just take the MBB internship and try everything you can to get a full-time offer? If you do, that's great and you are set. If you don't, you can still apply to McK again, you can show actual CV improvement and you have probably cleared the ban period also.

Best of luck

Hi there

here my thoughts:

1. Can you reapply now? In general, it will depend on the strength of your referral - you'll typically need someone very senior, to circumvent the ban. Also, in my experience, beyond that it depends on how close to an offer you were last time.

2. Does the ban start again, if you get rejected pre-screening? Depends - if you need to redo the test and failed, then for sure it will. In certian other circumstances (e.g. bad macro situation), the firm would often be less strict.

Feel free to reach out, if you'd like more specific advice on ME - I used to interview in ME and know the local circumstances quite well.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

(edited)

Hi there,

Well done on the MBB internship and referral!

I would check with the individual referring you. See what they think. In addition, it doesn't hurt to ask them to put you in touch with the recruiters with the “excuse” of figuring out if you can apply now.

Yes, the ban period would start again.

Please make sure to invest accordingly here! Invest in getting a top-notch CV, in passing the screening test, in casing optimally.