I am a masters student in Engineering at a top 15 school in the US. I have a GPA of about 3.7 and a year of work experience in a front end consulting role at EY. A McKinsey AP has told me he will pass my resume and ensure that I am on the recruiting teams radar. I want to know how referrals work in McKinsey and whether this means my chances of getting an interview are good?

Hi there,

A referral is just a door opener such that the recruiting team will look through your application more thoroughly. Depending on the seniority, tenure and advocacy of the person referring you, you have a better chance of getting a first round interview. The more senior the person referring you is, the better. The longer the tenure of that person with the firm is, the better.

The reason is that such voices carry more weight than referrals coming from super junior or brand new people. They typically know the HR folks better and have been involved in recruiting activities for a while so it is usually assumed that they have a good grasp of what types of candidates with which sets of qualifications the firm needs. However, any referral is ultimately better than no referral. Also for candidates who come from target schools.

Ideally, you get a referral from someone from the same office (or same country) you are applying to. But again, a referral from someone within the same firm but different office or country organization is still better than no referral.

A direct rejection after the CV screening stage can still happen - even with a referral. In that case the recruiting team usually provides some feedback to the person having given the referral. So you should follow up with them to better understand the rationale in case that happens. On the flipside, you can still get an interview invite when you just apply online without a referral - the probability is just lower - particularly when your CV is not “stellar” on a standalone basis.

And as always, factors such as economic conditions and headcount/budget planning of the individual firm also matter significantly in these decisions - but they are not within your control.

Best

That's great news. 

Sharing two resources for anybody looking into getting referrals as well:

• Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals
• Expert Guide: How To Get Referrals Via LinkedIn? 

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

There are certain criteria for the referral:

1. The consultant makes you a reference in the system and uploads your resume. Usually, he has to indicate why he thinks you are a good candidate
2. You skip some steps in the recruiting process (CV screening at McK, Test at Bain)
3. The consultant gets a referral bonus ($) if you get a job offer

So in your case, you will pass the resume screening and they will invite you to write a PST.

Best!

Hello!

Best would be to post your CV sanitized so you can get some feedback here from the community and maximize your chances!

I have seen multiple questions lately in the Q&A regarding doing masters, which one to choose, MBA vs. MiM, which schools to choose (both in US and Europe).

I joined McK after finishing my master in Architecture (totally not related field of study, and still), and I am doing an MBA in MIT atm. Happy to talk about this, and also happy to guide you with MBA applications, something that I have been doing lately. 

Furthermore, I have been a professor in the Master in Management from Instituto de Empresa, in Madrid (MiM in IE Business School). 

Feel free to PM! Cheers, 

Clara

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