How to ask for referral on linkedin (with templates)

By asking for referrals on LinkedIn you stand ahead of hundreds of applicants who are applying online through job portals and company websites. With employee referral – your resume comes from a trusted company employee so it is more likely to get viewed by a recruiter.

82% of companies have employee referral programs in place and they prioritise referral hiring over company career pages or job boards. Asking the right people and using the right message in referral requests makes a great difference. It gets you referred and moves you closer to getting hired.

Before you ask

You need to make sure the job opening you want to get referral for – is suitable for your skills and experience. Read through the job description, it should atleast 70% match with your profile and expertise.
Otherwise you will be wasting referrer’s time and losing value of that relation.

LinkedIn Referral Templates (Samples)

You can copy and use one of these templates to ask referral on linkedin based on your experience and use case. I have used a similar template to get interview at JP Morgan Chase in the past.

Template for Experienced professionals

Don’t forget to attach your resume or send after this message.

Template for Freshers

Follow-up if you don’t hear back

It may be a busy week for your potential referrers. So it is a good idea to remind them after 2-3 days.

Follow-up message template –

You need to be polite and not pushy with your followups. If a person is not responding – it could happen from variety of reasons so check with someone else.

That brings us to question – who can refer you?

Identify the right person to Ask

Referrals are no longer limited to direct friends or family. Many companies have started giving the “referral from social media” option in their employee referral portal. This is because companies themselves are actively hiring on social media (linkedin).

The best person to refer you can be your old colleaugue, friend from college or someone who personally knows you. They will not be hesitant to refer you.

Apart from this, if you are active on LinkedIn and your connections admire your work – you can ask them.

Not sure who to ask?

LinkedIn tells you who to reach out

If you are on a job description page in linkedin, it shows you a list of your connections that are working in your target company. If you click on “Show all” linkedin will show you list of more people that went to same college as you and now working in your target company.

This makes your task lot easier, you just need to personalize referral message and send.

Should you ask strangers for referrals?

Give preference to professionals who know you, directly connected or 2nd level connections. A strangers may not be as forthcoming in referring you simply because they don’t know you and that connect is not there.

I have been refered by stranger and I have referrer strangers, you need to –

1. Establish a connection – Mention a common connection – say how you both know X person.
2. Be direct and specific in your ask – research the job that you are targetting and make sure it is suitable for you
3. Save their time – make it easy for them by providing resume, linkedin profile and contact details etc. Be available to provide additional details when needed.

Make your referral request message short and concise, no one has time to read though long messages.

Asking linkedin connections if they know of a job openning

You can even ask your entire network for referrals if you urgently need a job. You can write a linkedin post saying – this is my skill set and this is the role you are looking for, no need to provide a job link.

If someone in your network knows about the same open role, they will message you or add a comment. So the template goes like this

These templates work best because they also ask you to forward your resume to the recruiter in case that person is not confident to refer you.

If you haven’t tried referrals before, you might be wondering what are the chances that it will actually work? Let’s see

Do LinkedIn referrals actually work?

Yes, they do. I have personally got referrals through LinkedIn in JP Morgan and Chase.

I have conducted a survey on linkedin and found that 57% of professionals can give you a referral. All you need to do is find the right person that lies in 57%.

Apart from my own experience, I have found people posted on social about getting referrals

Now, what can you do to maximize your chances? send more requests right? Yes but

Steps in referral process

A typical referral application follows below steps –

1. It starts by asking someone to refer you for a position that you feel is the right fit for you.
2. Your referrer will find the open position that you asked for in the company’s internal referral portal and create a referral request by adding your details and uploading your resume.
3. Next, you will get an email that you have been referred and your profile is under consideration.
4. Recruiter will look at your profile and call you for an interview if they feel your profile is suitable.
5. Considering all went well and you cleared all interviews, got the offer and joined.
6. Your referrer will get a referral bonus after you complete your probation period (typically 3-6 months).

Thank you note for referrer

As your connection submits your referral request, you will get an email that you got referred. You should thank that person for taking their valuable time and doing this for you. You just made a good connection here which you will need later on as well

Use this thank you message template

So after this point, you need to track your application while you are preparing for interviews. Keep reading to know how

Referrals are good

Referrals are win win win situation for everyone. This is why 82% of employers have referral programs because they see results. How? let’s see

Referral Benefits for Company – Employees who get referred are four times more likely to get hired than those who don’t. 45% of people employed through referrals stay with the company for more than four years.

Referral Benefits for you – Via referral, you are bypassing hundreds of applicants who applied through job portals. Since you have been referred by an employee, there is a high chance that a recruiter will look at your profile.

Referral Benefits for Referer – your referrer gets a referral bonus if you join and complete your probation period. Companies offer referral bonuses because it saves them time and money.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to know progress of your referral application

You will get notified via email when your referrer adds the request to company’s internal portal. Many times you get email notifications as your application progresses through various stages. But in case you don’t hear back, you can ask your referrer to check the latest status of your application.

How many referrals should you ask?

Based on our survey, if you ask 2 persons to refer you, that should get at least 1 referral. But just to increase your chances, it is a good idea to ask for referrals from 2-3 connections.

Should I ask for referral before or after applying?

Ask referral before applying. Employee referral is company’s internal channel where an existing employee will apply job on your behalf, so you don’t need to apply externally (online).

How to ask for referrals without sounding desperate?

You don’t need to sound desperate, use templates provided in this blog post where you appriciate referrer to consider your request and even if they are busy, you are keeping the connect while looking for other potential referrers.