Hi there,

A referral can be a great instrument that helps you secure an interview invite.

However, it is not a 100% guarantee that you eventually get an offer because some points and effort must be given from your side as well.

The question is: How much do you really want to get the job? Of course, it is better to provide yourself with a referral for the targeted firm. Otherwise, you can not even get invited.

Was this helpful?

GB

I can only speak for McKinsey where the selection process is kept as objective and fact-based as possible. During the decision meeting, where candidates are discussed post-interview, the interviewers share concrete examples and often challenged with their rating/hiring proposal. Considering the number of interviews that a candidate goes through before an offer is extended, if the candidate is not meeting the bar it becomes obvious!

It's also worth pointing out that, McKinsey, as well as many other management consultancies, are partnerships where it is not about the opinion and decision of a single partner (or senior partner) and evaluation (even for senior partners) is far more meritocratic than political. It's also worth noting that typically a candidate would be interviewed by at least one partner or senior partner who would be a peer to the referrer as well.

I personally have interviewed a candidate referred by who was then the former Global Managing Director. There was a post-it on the CV by the recruiter but not once was this mentioned during the interview or final decision meeting.

Dear A,

Yes, referral may help you to secure your interview and skip the general CV screening. But you have to crack the interview)

Best,

André

What you observed is correct. Recommendation can get you an interview, but once you get into the interview round, everything comes down to your interview performance. I've seen people who were invited to private group dinners with partners got rejected at the end, and people who had no close connection with anyone in the firms getting offers.

So again, for normal people, it's pretty much pure "meritocracy" - your interview performance determines the result.

Hi,

The information about the referral is not forwarded to the interviewers so the referral will not help. However, if you are in a good relationship with the senior partner you'd better ask him how he could help since he knows it better than anyone here:)

Best