Name dropping of a partner's name

Question

Hi, I'm applying for Bain EU office after a mentoring call with a Bain partner in US, who worked with on a project a few years ago. At end of the call, she asked me to put her name in cover letter at my application and mentioned to HR that we have talked.

I originally expected her to ask for my resume then forward it to HR but it didn't happen that way, so I have two questions:

1. can a Bain partner do a referral across continents by its regional staffing policy? i.e. a partner in US refers a candidate to EU office.

2. will a name dropping of this partner in the cover letter work in your perspective?

Thank you all.

Answer 1

Hey there,

1. Yes, that should be possible, often in the form of an informal email and that's it.

2. Yes, it will definitely work, however, the impact might vary. Also, if they refer you anyway, the additional name on the cover letter won't make much difference, since their word counts more than yours. Still, I would always refer to people in my cover letter if they are aware of it and even more so if they asked you to do it.

Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 2

Hi there,

This is a hard situation to interpret. On the one hand, I think it's possible she's blowing you off in a polite way (i.e. doesn't want to refer you but doesn't want to say that). On the other hand, it's possible that this is indeed a referral and she's explicitly spoken to HR about you.

If she did indeed speak to HR (and I mean, sent an email specifically flagging that they should look out for your application), then this is a referral (and yes, it works across continents). If she did not do this, name dropping in a cover letter has pretty much 0 impact.

Regardless, it's a bit out of your control and you really just have to hope she did indeed flag your application to HR!

If you have time, I'd advise networking a bit more to see if you can get a lock-and-loaded referral. Otherwise, role the dice!

Answer 3

Hey,

You can name drop, thats fine since she asked you to do so. This wont count as a referral though, so be aware.

If you can and its appropriate, reach back out to her and attach your CV and request a referral. Do this nicely obviously. Otherwise, I dont think its worth speculating what she did or did not do in the backend. Continue networking and keep other options going in parallel.

All the best.

Answer 4

Hi there,

Yes, a partner can refer you to a different office in another continent
You can add the name but if the partner did not talk with HR, it won’t count as a referral

Best,

Francesco

Answer 5

Hello!

Given the closeness that you have to her, I would ask her directly to pass your CV to HR.

Cheers,

Clara