How Do I Get Internal Referrals?

"The 2-Hour Job Search" Method

Job opportunities increasingly come through referrals, and not through a traditional job search. The only way to get internal referrals is through networking. You can network 24/7, yet it might not yield great results if you don’t network strategically. Following 80/20 Principle, you should focus on those 20% potential employers where your chances to get internal referrals are the highest.

If there is just one book that I can recommend for being strategic about your networking and getting internal referrals, it’s “The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster” by Steve Dalton.

The book teaches you a formal, systematic process to locate your “advocate” within your target employers as efficiently as possible. It helps you stay disciplined, focused and benefit from 80/20 Rule at every step.

This method is best used when you have already decided what you want to do and have written your resume, and covers steps 3-5 of the job search process described below. And literally, it takes just 2 hours to accomplish. I successfully used it to get multiple informational interviews when I was exploring one possible career transition pathway two years ago. And if you are still in exploratory mode (i.e. step 1 below is not fully clear), you can still successfully use step 5 to prepare for your informational interviews that you would get without using 2-Hour Job Search method fully.

  1. Choose what you want to do.

  2. Write a resume.

  3. PRIORITIZE target employers.

    • the LAMP method (70 mins): List > Alumni > Motivation > Posting.

    • the goal of this step is to end up with a list that is ordered based on a set of criteria predictive of job search success.

  4. CONTACT target employers.

    • Naturalize (20 mins): create contacts at top priority employers where you were unable to find them initially.

    • The 5-point email (20 mins): a short, relatively generic email targeting contacts that are most likely to provide you with real help in job search

    • Track (10 mins): simple yet effective “3B7 method” for systematically managing the outreach you initiate.

  5. RECRUIT advocates to provide internal referrals

    • Research (15 mins per interview): research for an informational interview as efficiently as possible; disciplined focus only on what MUST be researched

    • Discuss (30 mins per interview): TIARA framework that will help you build rapport and gain usable information

    • Follow up

  6. Interview

  7. Select an offer

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Networking, Informational Interviews, BooksArina DivoComment