Author: Taylor Warfield, Former Bain Manager and interviewer

Last Updated: July 7, 2026

 

A Roland Berger referral is an internal recommendation from a current employee that gets your resume in front of a real recruiter and can route you to the office you want, though it does not replace the online assessment or case interviews you still have to pass. This guide explains what a referral actually does at Roland Berger, how to land one even without an inside connection, and the exact steps to ask without feeling awkward.

 

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Key Takeaways

 

A referral at Roland Berger helps you get noticed and routed to the right office, but you earn the offer through the firm's online assessment and its case and fit interviews.

 

• A referral gets your resume human attention and can flag you for a specific office or region

 

• It does not skip the online assessment, the case interviews, or the fit interviews

 

• You can ask current employees, alumni, or people you meet through networking and informational chats

 

• A consultant in one office can forward your CV across regions, even to a different country

 

• Referred candidates often hear back within a few weeks, faster than the general applicant pool

 

What Is a Roland Berger Referral and Does It Help?

 

A Roland Berger referral is a current employee vouching for you and submitting or flagging your application internally. It helps by getting your resume read by a recruiter instead of lost in the pile, and it can route you to a specific office. It does not guarantee an interview or skip any assessment.

 

Roland Berger, founded in 1967 in Munich, now reports more than 3,500 employees across 50-plus offices worldwide, according to Roland Berger. That scale means recruiters at popular offices read a lot of resumes, and a referral is what makes yours stop the scroll.

 

In consulting more broadly, consulting referrals all work the same basic way. A good word from someone inside buys you attention, not a free pass. The interviews still decide the outcome.

 

Having coached hundreds of candidates into top firms, I tell every one of them the same thing. A referral is the cheapest, fastest edge available in recruiting, and most people never bother to get one.

 

How Does a Referral Change the Roland Berger Application Process?

 

A referral changes who sees your resume first and how fast you move, not what you have to prove. The route you apply through can also change the online assessment you receive, since the test often depends on whether you come in through a university portal, a referral, or an experienced hire track.

 

If you have a preference for a particular Roland Berger office, a referral is one of the cleanest ways to get your CV in front of that exact location. The employee can flag your file for their office or forward it to the right recruiting contact.

 

Application route	How your resume gets seen	Online assessment	Typical speed
Online portal	Enters the general pile and waits for a recruiter screen	Standard assessment	Slowest
University portal	Tied to a target school pipeline and campus timeline	School-specific version	Tied to recruiting cycle
Employee referral	Flagged for a recruiter and often a specific office	Usually still required	Often fastest
Experienced hire	Reviewed against a specific open role and team need	Role-dependent	Varies by role

 

The big shift a referral creates is human attention early. A recruiter who sees an internal flag reads your resume with a reason to say yes rather than scanning for a reason to cut you.

 

Does a Roland Berger Referral Guarantee an Interview?

 

No. A referral makes an interview more likely, but it never guarantees one. Your resume still has to clear the screen, you still take the online assessment, and you still face the case and fit interviews.

 

Glassdoor data shows candidates rate the Roland Berger interview difficulty at about 3.4 out of 5, with roughly 65% describing the experience as positive. Those numbers do not change because someone vouched for you.

 

This is why your consulting resume has to stand on its own. A referral gets it opened, but a weak resume still gets cut, referral or not.

 

If your resume is the weak link, my resume review and editing service can tighten it before you ever ask anyone to put their name behind it.

 

How Do You Get a Referral at Roland Berger?

 

You get a referral by building a real relationship first, then making a clear, specific ask. The fastest path runs through people who already know you, but smart outreach can earn a referral from a stranger too. Strong networking turns a cold name into a warm advocate.

 

1. Build a target list: identify consultants, alumni, and managers at the offices you actually want to join
   
   
2. Start with warm connections: school alumni, former colleagues, and second-degree contacts on your LinkedIn profile are far easier to reach
   
   
3. Ask for a conversation, not a favor: request a short informational interview before you mention a referral at all
   
   
4. Show you have done the work: know the firm, the office, and the specific reasons you fit, so the person trusts attaching their name to yours
   
   
5. Make the ask easy: request the referral directly and send a clean, forwardable resume so they can act in one click

 

A relaxed coffee chat does more for you than five cold messages. People refer candidates they like and trust, and trust comes from a real conversation.

 

What Should You Say When Asking for a Referral?

 

Keep the ask short, specific, and easy to act on. Remind the person who you are, state the role and office, give one sentence on why you fit, and make clear you have attached a resume they can forward. The structure mirrors any good consulting networking email.

 

Here's an example you can adapt after a good conversation:

 

Example: "Hi Maria, thanks again for the chat last week about life on the automotive team in Munich. I'm applying for the junior consultant role there and I think my background in operations is a strong fit. Would you be comfortable referring me? I've attached my resume so you can forward it easily, and I'm happy to answer any questions."

 

Notice what the message does not do. It does not apologize, it does not ramble, and it does not put the person on the spot without an easy way to say yes.

 

Can You Get Referred to a Different Roland Berger Office?

 

Yes. A consultant in one office can forward your CV to the recruiting team of a different office or even a different country. If your resume passes the initial screen, the target office's recruiting team contacts you directly about next steps.

 

I have seen candidates referred from a DACH-region office to London, where the local recruiting team picked up the conversation from there. The person who refers you does not need to work in your target office for the referral to count.

 

One caveat matters. Local language requirements still apply, so a role in the German-speaking DACH region will expect German fluency even if your referral came from someone abroad.

 

How Long Does the Roland Berger Referral Process Take?

 

Referred candidates usually hear back within a few weeks, which is faster than the general applicant pool. Glassdoor data puts the average Roland Berger hiring process at about 35 days across 271 reported interviews, and one referred candidate said the full process took about four weeks. From application to signed offer, expect a month or two depending on the office and the recruiting cycle.

 

A typical sequence looks like an online assessment, then a screening chat with HR, then a first round of interviews with consultants or managers. A second round with principals or partners follows, and some candidates see a third round.

 

Each interviewer usually runs both a fit portion and a case, so a referral gets you to the table faster but it does not shorten the gauntlet once you are there.

 

Tips for Getting the Most Out of a Roland Berger Referral

 

Tip #1: Earn the referral before you ask for it

 

People stake their reputation on a referral, so give them a reason to feel good about it. A genuine conversation, a sharp resume, and clear interest in the firm make the ask easy to say yes to.

 

Tip #2: Make your referrer's job effortless

 

Hand them everything they need in one message: the exact role, the office, and an attached resume. The less work you create, the faster your file moves.

 

Tip #3: Apply through the route your referrer recommends

 

Some employees submit your resume directly, while others tell you to apply online and then flag your name internally. Ask which approach they prefer, then follow it exactly so nothing falls through the cracks.

 

Tip #4: Treat the assessment and cases as the real test

 

The referral gets you in the room, but your performance on the Roland Berger case interview decides the offer. Start practicing cases the moment your referral is in, not after the interview is scheduled.

 

If you want to get interview-ready fast, my case interview course walks you through proven strategies in as little as 7 days.

 

Tip #5: Keep your referrer in the loop

 

Send a short thank you when they refer you, and a quick update when you get an interview or an offer. It is the right thing to do, and it keeps the door open if you need their help again.

 

A Roland Berger referral is one of the smartest moves you can make in your recruiting, since it costs nothing and gets your resume the human attention most applicants never receive. Start by booking one real conversation with someone inside the firm, then earn the referral from there.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Does Roland Berger have an employee referral program?

 

Yes. Current Roland Berger employees can refer or forward candidate resumes to the recruiting team, and referred candidates show up in the system as employee referrals. The firm treats a referral as a credible internal recommendation, which gets your application read by a real recruiter rather than left in the general pile.

 

Does a Roland Berger referral guarantee an interview?

 

No. A referral gets your resume human attention and can route it to a specific office, but you still have to pass the resume screen, the online assessment, and the case and fit interviews. Glassdoor data shows candidates rate the interview difficulty at about 3.4 out of 5, so a referral opens the door but does not lower the bar.

 

How do you ask someone for a referral at Roland Berger?

 

Start with a short conversation, not a cold favor. Reach out to a current consultant, alumnus, or contact, ask for a brief chat about their experience, show you understand the firm and office, then ask directly if they would be comfortable referring you. Always send a clean resume they can forward in one click.

 

Can you be referred to a Roland Berger office in another country?

 

Yes. A consultant in one office can forward your CV to the recruiting team of another office or region. If your resume clears the screen, the target office contacts you directly about next steps. Keep in mind that local language requirements still apply, so a German-speaking role in the DACH region will expect German fluency.

 

How long does the Roland Berger referral process take?

 

Referred candidates usually hear back within a few weeks. One referred candidate on Glassdoor reported the process took about four weeks. From application to offer, the full process commonly runs a month or two through an online assessment, an HR chat, a first round with consultants or managers, and a second round with principals or partners.

 

Do you still have to take the online test if you are referred?

 

In most cases, yes. The online assessment a candidate receives can depend on the route they apply through, such as a university portal, a referral, or an experienced hire track. A referral can change which test you see and how quickly you are processed, but it rarely removes the assessment entirely.

 

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