Day60 guide

How to ask for a referral

Ask for a referral in a way that is easy to say yes to: one exact role, two lines on fit and an easy way to say no. Two checked examples show how.

The short answer

Make it easy to say yes. Name the exact role, give two lines on why you fit, offer the posting link and a short note they can forward, and give them an easy way to say no. Ask someone you know directly. With someone you don’t know yet, ask for 15 minutes or a pointer first, not a referral.

What a referral does

A referral is someone at the company passing your name to the people hiring, usually with a line about why. It tells the hiring team that someone they work with knows you or your work.

The person who refers you is often what Day60 calls the internal champion: someone on the team, or a peer in the same kind of role. It can also be anyone at the company who knows your work well enough to speak for it.

A referral sits next to your application, not in place of it. The person can vouch only for what they know, so ask for that and no more.

Someone you know vs someone you don’t

How you ask depends on how well the person knows you.

Someone you know. A former colleague, manager, classmate or friend who works at the company. Ask in one short message: name the role, say why you fit and make it easy to say no.
Someone you don’t know yet. A person on the team you found yourself. Don’t ask for a referral in the first message, because they can’t speak for someone they have never talked to. Ask for 15 minutes about the work, or for a pointer to the right person, first.

Before you ask

Do the work first, so the person only has to say yes.

One exact role. Pick one opening and use the title exactly as the posting has it. Asking about “anything on your team” hands them the job of finding you a role.
The posting link. Find the posting on the company’s own careers page and keep its link handy, so they can open the role without searching.
Two lines on fit. One result from your work that matches what the posting asks for, in a sentence or two. Leave the rest for your resume.
Whether you have applied. Say if you have applied yet. Your contact knows how referrals work at their company and can tell you whether to apply first or wait for their referral.

Ask someone you know

Open with the role, not with catching up. Name the job and the day it was posted, give your two lines on fit and offer what they would need to refer you. End with one question.

Make it easy to say no. They may not know your recent work, their company may have its own rules, or they may be busy. A closing line such as “a quick ‘not me’ is a kindness” lets them decline without a long reply.

Offer the link and your resume instead of putting them in the first email. Tick keeps links and attachments out of a first email, and a short message is easier to answer. Send them once the person says yes.

Illustrative email to a former colleague

The company, people, dates, and experience in this example are invented.

Subject

The customer success opening at Acme

Message

Sam, Acme posted a Customer Success Manager role on your team on May 12. It centers on onboarding new accounts, the work we shared at Cedarline when you ran the kickoff calls and I wrote the setup guides. After you left, I took over the kickoff calls too, so I have run onboarding from the first call to the first month of use. If it helps, I can send the posting link, a short note you could forward and my resume. Would you be open to referring me for the role? Best, Alex If you're not the right person, a quick 'not me' is a kindness.

Reach someone you don’t know yet

Look for a would-be internal champion: someone in the same function as the job, on the team or close to it, at the role’s level or below. Open LinkedIn yourself, go to the company’s page, open People and search a short title keyword from the posting.

Do every step by hand. Skip any tool that logs in to LinkedIn for you, copies profiles in bulk or sends messages on its own. A few people you have checked are worth more than a long list.

Send a connection note with one dated detail, one proof point and one small ask: 15 minutes about the work, or a pointer to the person hiring. Keep it under 300 characters, with a shorter version under 200 for accounts with a lower limit.

Illustrative connection note to someone on the team

The company, people, dates, and experience in this example are invented.

Message

Jordan, your March 10 post about the support team’s new handoff checklist stood out. At Cedarline, I wrote the handoff notes for a second support shift. Would you be open to a 15-minute chat about the team lead role at Brightline?

Shorter version

Jordan, your March 10 handoff checklist post stood out. At Cedarline, I wrote the handoff notes for a second support shift. Open to a 15-minute chat about the team lead role?

Ask after you have talked

If the conversation goes well, they may offer to refer you. If they don’t, ask once, near the end: would they be comfortable referring you for the role, or is someone else on the team better placed to?

Take any answer well. A person who says no can often still point you to the hiring manager, and a thank-you keeps the door open.

If they don’t reply to your note, one follow-up after a week is enough. Add a new detail and keep the same ask.

What to send them

When they say yes, send all three in one message, so they don’t have to ask twice.

The posting link. The link to the exact role on the company’s careers page, with the title as the posting has it.
A short note they can forward. Two or three sentences they can paste as they are: the role, the one result that fits and how they know your work. An illustrative note, with invented details: “Alex ran onboarding for new accounts at Cedarline, where we worked together, from the first call to the first month of use. Alex is applying for the Customer Success Manager role on our team.”
Your resume. A current copy with your name in the file name, so it is easy to find later.

After they refer you

Thank them the same day. Keep it short: thanks, and a promise to tell them how it goes.

Then keep that promise, whatever happens: an interview, a no or no news after a few weeks. The person who referred you will want to know, and it gives you a reason to stay in touch.

If you get the offer, tell them soon and thank them again.

Where Day60 fits

Day60 helps you identify the four people closest to the hire: the hiring manager, their boss, an internal champion and the recruiter.

It reads the posting for clues, gives you the titles to search on LinkedIn, and ranks the people you find. Check each person's current role before you add them.

You open every search and send every message yourself. Day60 never logs in to LinkedIn or sends anything for you.