You know you should be asking around to find someone to refer you for a job but you feel uncomfortable or uncertain about what to say.
Numerous studies report referred candidates make better employees. This is why companies offer employee referral programs. All you need to do is make it easy for someone to refer you. It is as simple as asking.
[See: 25 Awesome Business Jobs for 2016.]
Remember, someone who refers you may not know your work, but that doesn’t mean they can’t vouch for your character. You may need to help coach some people who may be hesitant to serve as a referral. Acting as a referral is not the same as being a reference. Someone who refers you may also become eligible for monetary or other incentives.
Reach out to your personal network. Friends, family, neighbors or anyone you know personally is more than willing to help if you make it easy. Simply ask everyone you know if they have any contacts who work at the company you are interested in. This plea for help can work if there is already a job posted or even if there isn’t a job posted. Remind your personal contacts that it doesn’t matter who they know, what the person does or what location or department they are located in. You may also want to explain that you really just want the opportunity to talk with them about their experience in the company. If you are lucky enough to get names of people who work inside the company, always follow up by asking for more information, such as an email address or phone number, how your contact knows the person and always get permission to use your friend’s name. This information will make it easier for you to craft your opening statement when you are reaching out to a complete stranger. Use the name of the person and include how you know each other or why they recommended you reach out. For example:
Dear Susan,
I was speaking with Jane Doe this week about my interest in working for X company. Jane recommended I contact you to learn more about your experience working at X. Jane told me you’ve enjoyed working there and I’m interested in hearing your insider’s perspective. Do you have about 15 minutes for a short conversation this week or next?
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Research the company on LinkedIn. If you’ve asked your network and come up empty, you can always use LinkedIn to identify people who work at the company of interest. Simply search for the company name in the search bar at the top of your home page on LinkedIn and click on the company profile. Then you can look at the “see how you’re connected” box and select the “see all” link. Now you will see dozens or hundreds of employees who work there. Under each profile note the number of shared connections you have with the person. The best scenario is to select someone you know who is close to the role you are interested in. This isn’t always possible. Look at all the people you share connections with and find someone you know well. The logic being that someone you know well is less likely to ignore your request for help. Another suggestion is to contact the person outside of LinkedIn. Sending an email is likely to get a faster response from someone who doesn’t use LinkedIn regularly. Your email may sound something like this:
Dear Susan,
I see that you are connected to James Smith on LinkedIn. I am interested in learning more about his company and was wondering if you could introduce us either through LinkedIn or email. I don’t want to presume you know James well, however, anything you can do to facilitate an introduction would be of great help!
[See: 8 Ways Millennials Can Build Leadership Skills.]
Research the company on Facebook. Just to cover your bases, go over to Facebook and type in “people who work at X company” where X company is the company you are interested in. The search results will show people across Facebook who have included that company in their work experience. Sometimes it can be surprising to discover people you know who work for a company. If you do discover a friend or stranger on Facebook who either currently works for the company or used to work for the company, you can send them a private message. Just be aware that messages from people you don’t know on Facebook often end up in a different inbox and may not get viewed. You could look for the person on LinkedIn and try to connect that way instead.
Reaching out cold via email. As a last ditch effort to try and make contact with someone who works inside a company, you may resolve to sending a message to someone you don’t know at all. If you are lucky enough to find their email, use that, otherwise, you’ll have to send a message through LinkedIn. It’s important that your message hits the stranger’s radar so be sure to use an attention-grabbing subject line and engaging first sentence. Also make sure you reference something you both have in common such as college, LinkedIn groups or outside interests. Here’s an example:
Subject: May I ask you some quick questions?
Dear Jane,
You don’t recognize my name … yet.
I’m an accounting professional and I’ve been following X company for many months. Your career path since graduating from Y University is impressive. And, by the way, I also graduated from Y University. I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about what you like most about working there. As I prepare to make a change in jobs in the near future, I am hoping I could take a few minutes of your time to ask about the tools and trends inside X company. Could we set up a 15-minute phone call over the next week or so?
Looking forward to hearing your response.
You’ve got nothing to lose. If you try all these steps and still haven’t been able to make contact, you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t taken any steps. There is always the chance someone will respond favorably. The secret is making sure to reach out before you apply.
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How to Ask for (and Get) a Referral originally appeared on usnews.com
