Internal Referrals to Land Interviews
How did I land 60% of my jobs?
I’ve had 5 jobs post-college as an adult in the workforce. And something that seems significant in this job market is that I earned 3 of those with a referral or nudge from someone on the inside.
My first teaching job in Ecuador I heard about because I bumped into a history teacher at an Irish pub in Quito, no joke. I went home and Googled the school and applied, name dropping the guy I met at the pub.
I wasn’t landing any interviews with my organization in Atlanta until I asked someone I taught with in Hong Kong to put in a good word.
Another transitioning teacher who ran in similar LinkedIn circles and was from the same home town as me worked at my current tech company when a role opened there and was willing to be a referral.
60% of my adult jobs came from knowing someone at the company. That is NOT to say I didn’t deserve them.
For each of those roles, I was qualified and worked really hard to interview well and present my best professional self. But someone on the inside vouched for me, and that helped my application stand out from the stack.
It’s ok to be a bit shameless about asking for help. I have a personal boundary that I won’t refer people unless I know them in real life, but everyone has different comfort levels! It never hurts to ask someone you know if they can give the hiring manager a small nudge.
