GHDC: Ask Your Friends to Help You Get a Job!
Misconception #12: You Shouldn’t Ask Your Friends to Help Get You an Interview at Their Company
There’s an old saying: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” And let me tell you, that is 100% true. If you have a friend who works at a company that has a job opening and you’re not asking that friend for some inside information, you are being stupid.
Yes, I went there. Stupid.
The world runs on relationships. If your friend is in good standing at the company, the hiring manager is going to feel way better about interviewing you because your friend trusts you. This is one of those “the friend of my friend is a friend to me” situations. Don’t shortchange yourself because you feel like it’s “awkward,” or “inappropriate.” Ask kindly and don’t have expectations. All you have to say is, “Hey friend, I’m thinking of applying for a job at your company. Any chance you know anything about the role or the team or the hiring manager?” Easy. And if the company gives a referral bonus, it’s extra incentive to leverage every connection you have.
From CTO and sales executive Marquess Lewis:
The number one issue in my opinion is that someone didn’t build a network in advance. We all need to expect/plan that one day we will lose our job — our fault or not — and be ready. Develop deep, trusted relationships in your industry or profession. Seek out relationships that are valuable to both sides, and take care of them; talk regularly, share what you’re seeing and learning. Be valuable.
I have seen experienced people (techs, CEOs) be heads down for so long that they have no one to approach when their job ends. Who would you call today and say “I’m out, know of anyone that needs my skills?”
If you can’t name five people on your “call first” list, you must start building your network. By the way, it’s not just for you — it’s the right thing to do. With a good network, you’re valuable to others, which in and of itself is rewarding.
QA Leader Tracy Olnhausen says:
The Omaha, Nebraska job market was pretty small for tech jobs, so I knew someone everywhere and I would call trusted friends to ask about candidate X. Even better, if those people called me first and said, “Mary is going to apply for your positions. She’s great,” I was already on the candidate’s side.
Ellis says:
Yes. My past three jobs have been through: 1. My mother knowing the hiring manager at the first job 2. The daughter of a colleague at the first job working at the second job 3. Someone from the second job being the hiring manager at my third job.
(Thanks, Mom.)
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