How to get job referrals on LinkedIn

You’re looking for a job and are about to ask someone on LinkedIn to refer you. Follow this guide tp increase your chance of getting a referral by messaging someone on LinkedIn.

There are three steps to getting a successful referral through LinkedIn.

1.Find the right person

Find people who are working in your target company. Prefer people who are working in the same domain. As in, if you’re a frontend developer, it is better to ask a frontend developer to refer you for the available position. They can judge you better based on your resume and you skills.

LinkedIn allows you to send message to a limited number of people. Prefer people who’ve been active on LinkedIn in the past one month. Here, activity means a like/comment/post/share.

2. Send the right message

Follow these DOs and DONTs to decide what to send.

Cut the small talk and get to the point. Don’t drop a “Hi” and wait for the other person to respond back to continue the conversation.

Provide proper context. Don’t just send a straight “can you refer me?” without any context.

Keep the message informative. Send your message with the proper job id and URL of the opening.

If you have something to showcase, mention that.

Create a template. Following a proper template of the referral message which includes the above points will make it easier for you to apply to multiple roles.

3. Followup

With the right message is sent to the right folks, you will most likely get a lot of referrals from multiple amazing people.

People are busy and may not respond to or even read your message immediately. If you do not get a reply send a followup spread across 10–15 days. If it still doesn’t work, try to find someone else for referral.