Getting a McKinsey interview through a connection

do it

FOR A THREESOME

Can't hurt you. Quite a few of my interviews have come out of connections. Usually knowing someone can get you the interview- but after the first round- you're typically on your own.

Thanks for the responses.

I'm just curious as to how this works...will my cousin's bf be able to tell HR in another country to give me an interview? Why would HR listen to a recommendation from a new joiner?

no, the best you will get is make sure that HR reads your resume for more than 30 seconds

and you can also ask your connection to help out with improving your resume

I was referred by new hire at McK, but did not get a first round interview. My resume was good enough to get me to the final round at 1/3 of MBB (word on offer should come tomorrow). However, I have a non-business background, and I'm sure that played a part in my rejection.

A referral is not going to get you the job. HR may look at it a bit more seriously, but that's about the extent of it. My experience is that knowing someone at the firm will help for a few reasons. 1) They can give you insight into what they actually do and the culture. 2) You can ask they to help review your resume and cover letter, because a lot of on the beach guys do those screens. Even a recent hire may have seen one or two come across his desk already.

Do it, I got an interview from a recommendation by a guy who hadn't even started yet.

Not sure for the other remaining MBB firms but for McK, I'm pretty sure you have to take PST in order to be considered for an interview, so you should ask your cousin's bf to help you boost your resume and cover letter and focus your effort on practicing for the PST and case interviews.

Good luck

the PST is the problem solving test, multiple choice mixture of math and strategy

Another thing he might help you with is doing cases with you in preparation for your interview. Once he has been there for a while, he probably knows quite well how to do that.