Referrals decide who gets hired. Here’s how to get one when your network is thin.

I grew up in East Oakland, a long way from the offices where many hiring decisions get made. Much of that hiring happens before a job is ever posted, through someone inside saying “you should talk to my friend.” Nobody explains that part of the process, so most people learn it the slow way. You can learn it faster.

Why do employers favor referrals?

Because the numbers back them. A study of nine large firms found referred workers were 10% to 30% less likely to quit than people hired any other way. Every employer I advise is trying to lower turnover, so a referral is the cheapest risk reduction they can buy. I just wrote about this from the employer’s side in how to find, interview and vet candidates, including why a business shouldn’t rely on referrals alone.

Who gets left out?

The same study found people refer others like themselves, and that shapes who gets the call. Holding industry, location and other factors constant, PayScale found that compared with white men, white women were 12% less likely to have received a referral for their current job, men of color 26% less likely and women of color 35% less likely. A referral also helps you avoid ghost jobs. Early-career readers should also see how first-gen grads get in.

That gap isn’t about talent. First-generation professionals and underrepresented professionals often don’t grow up around people who already work where they want to work, so the warm introduction never happens on its own. It has to be built.

Weak ties are the network you already have

Here is the encouraging part. A study of 20 million LinkedIn users over five years, published in Science, found that moderately weak ties did more for job mobility than close friends. Your strongest relationships know the same people and jobs you do. The former coworker you liked but lost touch with, the classmate from one shared course, the alum two years ahead of you: those people sit in rooms you can’t see.

Most professionals have dozens of these ties. They just never ask them for anything.

How to earn a referral, step by step

Treat referrals as part of your job search strategy, not a favor you hope someone offers. Here is the order I recommend.

1. List 20 moderately weak ties: former coworkers and managers, classmates, alumni at your target companies, people from professional groups. LinkedIn’s alumni search makes this a one-hour job.
2. Ask for information, not a job. “I’m looking at the operations team at your company. Would you have 15 minutes to tell me what it’s like?” People who say no to a referral request say yes to a conversation.
3. Do your homework before the call: know the role, the team and one recent piece of company news, so the conversation is about fit, not basics.
4. Make the referral easy. If the call goes well, send the job link or ID, a resume tailored to the posting and a three-sentence summary they can paste into the referral form.
5. Follow up twice, then let it go. Thank them, tell them what happened, and close the loop either way.
6. Give back. Share a posting, make an introduction, endorse their work. The network you build now is the one that refers you in five years.

Before you reach out, make sure your profile can stand on its own, because the first thing a contact does is look you up. How recruiters search LinkedIn covers the LinkedIn profile basics, and high-velocity networking covers how to keep these relationships going without it feeling transactional.

What happens after the referral

A referral gets you into the room. It doesn’t set your pay. PayScale found that referrals from business contacts came with higher salaries for men than for women, a reminder that the salary negotiation still has to happen. Before negotiating the offer, read my guide to negotiating as a Black candidate and treat the number as a starting point.

If you want help building the list, the outreach and the negotiation plan, that’s the work I do as a Black career coach in the Bay Area, for first-generation professionals and Black professionals building their first networks. You can see the options on the services page.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.