How to ask for job referrals

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➕ How to ask for job referrals

• How a job referral works

• The wrong way to ask

• The right way to ask

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TOPIC
How to ask for job referrals

🔵 There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask for job referrals

Since I post regularly on LinkedIn, people contact me daily for questions, advice, and favors.

Can you guess what the most popular request is? Yep, it’s a job referral.

But sadly, this is also the biggest mistake I see people make in networking - asking for a referral too soon.

Today, I’ll explain how job referrals work and how to ask for one.

How a job referral works

This is the standard process.

1. You ask for a referral to a specific job

2. I say yes, and submit one on my end

3. The referral goes to HR and they review it

4. If they approve, you get an email with the link to apply

Now, there is where we run into 2 problems.

The wrong way to ask

Problem #1:

At its very core, a job referral is someone from that company vouching for you, they’re putting their name and reputation on the line.

That’s why a shame to see when someone - in the 1st ever message to me - asks for a referral.

I can’t give it, because how can I vouch for someone I don’t even know?

Here’s problem #2:

Let’s say I’m generous and decide to refer you. Well, there’s still a chance the referral won’t go through.

You see, once I submit the referral, it goes to the HR team for review - they have the ultimate decision.

So, if I keep referring unqualified candidates, HR will notice and subsequently ignore future ones coming from my name!

You lose out on a referral, and I lose my reputation, nobody wins in this situation.

The right way to ask

The golden rule is to wait until the 3rd or 4th conversation to ask for favors.

Spend the first 2 conversations to build up trust. Ask engaging questions, and establish that rapport.

Oh, and here’s how you can ask for a referral without being too direct. It’s called:

For example, instead of asking someone

Say this:

In the 1st version, you're requesting something, hence you're putting the authority on yourself - that's too direct.

But in the 2nd example, you're asking for their opinion, so now they have the authority - it's a harmless question.

Your next steps:

This week, I challenge you to do 2 things.

1. Coffee chat with 1 person you already know. Build that connection.

2. If you’ve chatted with someone at least 3 times, ask for a referral.

See you next Tuesday 🤝

-Michael Ly

P.S. miss last week’s email? Read This 1 book upgraded my career  

EXTRA RESOURCES
Help me help you

If you resonated with my advice above and experience any of the following:

1. Trouble finding a job

2. Not knowing how to network

3. Getting ghosted by recruiters

4. Struggling in interviews

5. Or anything else related

Then fill out this survey! It only takes 1 minute!

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