21 Comments
 

Had MD referrals that didn't produce an interview – the kind where you write the referrer's name – twice in a row for the same bank & within the same recruitment season, despite being diversity

 

Had MD referrals that didn't produce an interview – the kind where you write the referrer's name – twice in a row for the same bank & within the same recruitment season, despite being diversity

Did you get them to email HR, if so who in HR, was it an MD in HR or the early careers ppl?

was it SA or another role?

 

Hit and miss with this. It’s going to rely on various factors e.g., size of the company, how stringent are their DEI requirements, who is the referrer and how much clout do they have. The list goes on

It’s always worth trying to get a referral in any way, shape or form but factors like the above will overrule referrals a lot of the time.

 

WhyEff

Hit and miss with this. It’s going to rely on various factors e.g., size of the company, how stringent are their DEI requirements, who is the referrer and how much clout do they have. The list goes on

It’s always worth trying to get a referral in any way, shape or form but factors like the above will overrule referrals a lot of the time.

do yk which firms' HR will listen to refs

also does it help if dartmouth partners do the initial process

 

It’s hard to tell tbh. There’s no definitive answer to that really. Just have to scattergun it if you can.

RE Dartmouth Partners, if you have a good relationship with the recruiter it wouldn’t hurt the prospective role.

I try and maintain positive relationships with recruiters that get in touch with me bc at the end of the day, what’s good for me is good for them. If they speak highly of you, i’m sure it would help, even if just a little bit.

 

I've had multiple referrals (admittedly tends to be a more frequent occurrence at associate and up) across BB and MM and have got interviews at every single one. It might be more hit and miss lower down the hierarchy but if you've got people who can vouch for you who you used to work with (either same place or co-advised on deals etc) it helps a lot.

 
Engineer Monke

I've had multiple referrals (admittedly tends to be a more frequent occurrence at associate and up) across BB and MM and have got interviews at every single one. It might be more hit and miss lower down the hierarchy but if you've got people who can vouch for you who you used to work with (either same place or co-advised on deals etc) it helps a lot.

how would it be for SA?

 

Pre sure referrals not a thing or else the office will develop nationality based cliques. French will only refer the french and italians will only refer italians

 

I use the term “refer” pretty loosely here, but back when I was in banking it typically meant that HR would invite the person to a first round telephone interview (assuming the referral happened during on-cycle recruiting, i.e. Aug-Oct)

Hugely advantageous cause that is almost the entire battle for SAs and almost irrelevant what level the referral comes in from. Have heard instances where applicants were already auto-rejected and got invited for an interview post-networking event off of positive feedback. Obviously will vary from bank to bank, but making genuine connection will go a long way and it doesn’t have to be a senior person at all. Once you’re “in the system” then it’s all fair game and is typically as far as a referral will take you, unless you’re backed by a super senior person who checks in with HR and pull some additional strings (which do also happen…) 

 

For SAs it's minimal help as it's often handled by HR with minimal input from bankers. At least in London at most places of size. HR like to keep a tight reign on graduate hiring.

Lateral hiring - referrals are helpful.

Sponsors M&A (London)
 

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