Arjun Mehta ·
How to ask for a referral without it being awkward: give the person everything they need to say yes in one message
That means the specific role link, two lines on why you fit it, and an explicit out - "no problem at all if you would rather not". What you are asking for is thirty seconds of their time in an internal tool, not a character reference. Most people will do it for a former colleague they remember as competent.
The version that fails is "let me know if you hear of anything", which puts the work of finding you a job onto someone with their own job.
#referrals#networking
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Tactics for running a job search that actually converts - where to apply, how often to follow up, and how to read a job description.
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- Cover letters matter in about a third of applications, and you usually cannot tell which third
- Networking works badly when it is framed as networking and well when it is framed as interest
- Apply one band up as well as at your level, and be honest about both
- Research pay before the first conversation, not after the offer