Referrals consistently produce better response rates than cold applications — recruiters and hiring managers generally trust an internal recommendation more than an anonymous resume in a stack of hundreds. The problem is obvious: what do you do when you don’t actually know anyone at the company you want to apply to?

Here’s how to build a referral path from nothing.

Start with LinkedIn’s second-degree connections

Search the company name on LinkedIn and filter by your network — you’ll often find second-degree connections (people your connections know) who work there, even if you don’t know them directly. A warm introduction through a mutual connection is far more effective than a cold message to a stranger.

When reaching out to the mutual connection for an introduction, be specific and low-effort for them to help with: “I saw you’re connected with [Name] at [Company] — would you be comfortable making a quick introduction? I’m interested in their Data Engineer role and would love to learn more about the team.” Most people are happy to make a quick, low-effort introduction when asked directly and politely.

Cold outreach to employees, done well

If there’s no mutual connection, a direct, well-crafted cold message to someone on the actual team can still work — response rates are lower than a warm intro, but far from zero. The key is specificity and low ask:

• Reference something specific about their work or the team (a project they’ve posted about, a technology they use)
• Keep it short — three or four sentences maximum
• Ask a small, easy question rather than immediately asking for a referral: “Would you be open to a quick 10-minute call about what the team’s working on?” A referral often follows naturally from a good conversation, rather than needing to be the opening ask.

Avoid generic, copy-pasted messages that are obviously being sent to dozens of people — these get ignored or, worse, actively hurt your impression with that person.

Alumni networks are underused

If you attended a college or university, its alumni network (often searchable directly within LinkedIn’s alumni tool) is a legitimate, underused path to warm connections. Alumni are frequently more receptive to a message than a total stranger, purely on the basis of shared affiliation — this is a real and common professional norm, not a stretch.

Community and interest-based networks

Slack communities, Discord servers, and forums centered on specific technologies (a particular data tool, a specific programming language, a data engineering-focused community) often include employees from companies you’re targeting. Genuine participation in these spaces over time — not just showing up to ask for referrals — naturally builds the kind of relationships that lead to a warm introduction when you do have an ask.

What to do once you have the referral

Once someone agrees to refer you, make it easy for them:

• Send your resume and the specific job posting link in one clean message
• Include a short blurb (2-3 sentences) they can use or adapt when submitting the referral internally, summarizing why you’re a fit — this saves them effort and often results in a stronger internal recommendation
• Thank them regardless of outcome, and follow up to let them know how the process goes

If you genuinely can’t find any path in

Sometimes there’s truly no available path to a referral for a specific role, and that’s fine — it just means that particular application goes in as a well-tailored cold application instead. Not every role needs a referral to land; it’s simply a meaningfully better-performing path when it’s available, not a strict requirement for every single application in your search.

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Once you’ve got a referral path, make sure your resume is doing its part too — see our guide on what recruiters actually scan for first.