How To Get A Job By Referral or From a Referral

- short, well drafted messages
- please do not click the box that allows everyone to see who else the mail went to.
- once you are done with your contacts, go to the connection s of the people in your network and see if anyone on their list can help.
- visit the company pages. there you will see the list of people who are in your connection or connected to you via someone else. these are still a better bet than what comes next.
- consultants and recruiters. send messages, but only those who have advertised for positions you are looking for or list in their profile that they recruit for the industry you are interested in.

facebook
- not for jobs, but you could ask you friends. I suggest individual messages, but again not everyone.
- it is not easy to get info on people in fb. the profiles generally do not have work related stuff, but you can look at fan pages and use a message to the admin to find the relevant contact.

Twitter
- find the company official twitter account.
- go through the followers of that account. see if you know someone in the company
- you can also use lists. some lists like 'XXX industry HR' could be a look repository.

70% of all jobs are filled by referral. companies today pay their ranks to bring in people. why? they pay consultants anyway. this just puts more money in the hands of the employees and the company benefits by bringing in talent that is pre-screened by the employee. the knows the company culture, knows the referral and would know if he or she would fit in. no one would refer someone they knew would not be able to perform.

let me repeat that, just the important bit 'no one would refer someone they knew would not be able to perform'

now then, keep that in mind when you go out looking for a job via a referral. they will not be able to refer you unless they think you can contribute, perform and in the bargain make them look good.

so, here is the How to get a job by Referral in the background of that all important context.

1. make a list of places where you would like to work. companies, industries, cities, maybe even countries.

2. make a list of designation, type of work you would be willing to do and be good at. work where your experience and enthusiasm would be put to maximum use.
from these two lists, prepare a statement for people who will ask you 'what are you looking for?'
let the statement be simple, concise but clear. dont be ambiguous 'oh you know, anything that suits me'. that is a big NO NO. if you dont know what suits you, how should anyone else?
'I think a position as a trainer for a management school would be perfect for me, with my experience. Also I am pretty excited about such a possibility.'

3. make a list of people who can help you find such jobs

4. from that list, circle the names you can call. these are the ones you are most comfortable with and although with some you might hesitate to ask for help, you can nevertheless ask. also, if you are comfortable calling that means you are on some what a better equation than the rest.

5. call these people. here is a sample of what you can say, if you find yourself short on words
'hi, XXX. how are you? is this a good time to talk? I wanted to ask you for a favor. I am looking for a job and was hoping you could help me find one'

6. if they tell you they cant, dont just hang up, tell them what you are looking for and ask if they know anyone who could help.

7. hopefully you have called everyone you could and found a job, but if you haven't go back to your list of people. now mark those you can text. not call, but sms. send them a short , crisp sms not a long winding one. here is a sample ' hi. I was hoping to speak to you regarding my career. please let me know when it would be a good time to call - name'. most of the ones who want to help will either call back or send you a reply.

repeat the process when you get them on the phone

8. if you are still looking, go to the ones you can email.
again, send an email, but here are some guidelines:
- keep it concise.
- tell them what you are looking for and that you would be very grateful for any leads
- customize it. do not send a mass mailer.

9. if still nothing, it is time to take it online.
the best is linkedin.com, for the only reason that most people consider it professional networking site.

There. All the best!