Hi there,

A referral is just a door opener such that the recruiting team will look through your application more thoroughly. Depending on the seniority, tenure and advocacy of the person referring you, you have a better chance of getting a first round interview. The more senior the person referring you is, the better. The longer the tenure of that person with the firm is, the better.

The reason is that such voices carry more weight than referrals coming from super junior or brand new people. They typically know the HR folks better and have been involved in recruiting activities for a while so it is usually assumed that they have a good grasp of what types of candidates with which sets of qualifications the firm needs.

Ideally, you get a referral from someone from the same office (or same country) you are applying to. However, a referral from someone within the same firm but different country organization is still better than no referral.

A direct rejection after the CV screening stage can still happen - even with a referral. In that case the HR team usually provides some feedback to the person having given the referral. So you should follow up with them to better understand the rationale in case that happens. On the flipside, you can still get an interview invite when you just apply online without a referral - the probability is just lower.

And as always, factors such as economic conditions and headcount/budget planning of the individual firm also matter significantly in these decisions - but they are not within your control.

Best

Hey there!

The absence of referral decreases your odds to be seen by the hiring manager. So basically, the chances exist all the time, but when they are supported by the established contacts or referrals there are much higher.

Cheers,

GB

Hi there,

Absolutely! It honestly happens all the time!

Please don't let the lack of a referral put you off from applying...the majority of my candidates ultimately have their interviews thanks to cold applying.

We just recommend networking because it greatly improves your odds on an individual application :)

Of course it is! That's the path of the majority of applications. But having a referral drastically increases the likelihood of getting invited. If you see a path to securing a referral, you should do so!!