MBB Summer internship Referrals

Hi there,

Q: I was wondering if it was true or not that MBB does not give referrals for a summer internship but only full-time offers? 

Not true. I personally helped candidates to get referrals for internships (and I got a referral for an internship myself when I applied).

In terms of how to get referrals, this is what I recommend (you have probably covered some steps already).

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To find a referral, you should follow three main steps:

1. Identify the people that can help you
2. Write them a customized email
3. Have a call and indirectly ask for a referral

As general tips:

• Don’t use LinkedIn for your communication – emails work better. You should target 30% conversion for your messages; if you are not achieving that, there is space for improvement
• When sending emails, your goal should be to organize a call, not to ask questions – you can then use the call for the questions
• You need to close the call with an indirect request for a referral – don’t leave that to chances. There are specific ways to phrase it

You should prepare three main things before the call:

• Your own pitch. 3-4 lines should be enough
• 3-4 questions on the personal experiences of the person. Avoid to ask questions about the company
• A closing question for the referral. It should be an indirect request to avoid being too pushy

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You can find more on how to get referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Referral

If you need more help, I also do a 30min session with scripts to use, access to my network and every other info to land one. Please feel free to PM for more info.

Best,

Francesco

There are a few factors at play here to consider:
1) Most firms only offer referral bonus for candidates that would not have otherwise been picked up by the standard campus recruiting process. If you are at a target school and going for an internship then likely there is no referral bonus & hence no financial incentive for staff to refer you.
2) Referrals are usually based on long term relationships where the person knows and can vouch for the quality of your work. Meeting for one coffee etc. does not really give the person enough information about your professional competence 
3) It may not be the case, but the way you worded your question suggests that you are approaching networking from a very transactional point of view. It is absolutely worthwhile networking, but your goal in networking should be to develop long term relationships where you can give at least as much value as you take. It will rarely be successful if you are just looking to gain something for yourself in the short term

Hope this helps.

Kurt

Hi there,

A referral is just a door opener such that the recruiting team will look through your application more thoroughly, both for internships as well as full-time applications. 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. 

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. Just keep in mind that an employee does put their reputation on the line by referring a candidate. So you shouldn't assume that they'd be just waiting for you to swing by to pick up your referral. You have to give them the sense that you are a worthy candidate and would be a great addition to their teams.

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

Hi there,

I agree with Kurt here.

At face value it appears you are networking wrong. Consider hiring a coach to help you adjust your approach (referrals greatly improve your chances of getting an interview, so think about the immense ROI this can produce).

Remember referrals aren't just a system/online portal referral. They're also as simple as the Partner forwarding your resume to HR/The Recruiter, cc'ing you, and telling them to have a look at your profile.

Hey there,

Definitely not true. You should definitely network and score some referrals!

However, I think summer internship applications are mostly done by now (not sure if you are talking about next summer?)

Cheers,

Florian 

Hi there,

First of all, you can absolutely land a referral for any role - I have experienced this myself for all MBB when I did my MBA. 

That's of course if we consider an internal endorsement note from a firm member (Associate, Manager, Partner, etc.) to HR a referral and don't just focus on the ‘formal’ referral system. However, getting a commitment from someone to endorse your application/provide a referral is something you have to earn and doesn't happen automatically for everyone. 

It's possible you engage those people in the wrong way, which we should get to the bottom of. Coaching can help a great deal here, which I would recommend at this point.

Let me know if you'd like to learn more!

There are informal referrals for summer internships in the sense that if a consultant thinks you have high potential then they will let the recruiting team know.  This is the same way referrals work in the majority of cases where the formal referral process with the referral bonus is used mainly for experienced hires coming from industry (i.e., McKinsey won't give a referral bonus for someone to refer their best friend at HBS, etc.).

Hi there, 

It depends on bit on geography / office, but generally referrals work for internships as well, so I would still do it. 

And even if somehow the referrals don't count, then you're still going to learn a lot from connecting with these people. 

Best,
Cristian

Hello!

 I can tell you by 1st hand experience that it´s not true: people do get referrals for internship. I made several myself in McK. 

Cheers, 

Clara