Wednesday, September 18 - "Referrals Aren't Working"

Good morning!

Here’s what’s on the job description for today:

1. New roles from one of the world’s largest car brands.

2. Richard asks, “I’ve had three referrals that led to nothing, not even an interview. Why aren’t they working for me?”

IN HIRING

Nissan

• The Japanese car maker is a globally renowned manufacturer with a wide range of roles in many countries.

• Here are a few of the most interesting roles available

  • Global Product Owner - Click here for full details

  • Marketing Product Manager - Click here for full details

  • Business Implementation and Operations Manager - Click here for full details

Click here for the company’s career page

TODAY’S QUESTION

Richard asks, “I’ve had three referrals that led to nothing, not even an interview. Why aren’t they working for me?”

Recommendation: This plain out sucks. Here’s what I would do if I were in your shoes:

• First, send a thank you email to your referees letting them know that you appreciate their help but that it did not lead to any interviews or further opportunities.

  • The key here is to not ask for anything. Instead, show gratitude and make it about transparency. There’s a chance that they will provide more information or further referrals but that chance reduces dramatically if you ask for information on why it didn’t work out.

  • Even if it’s been a month or more since they referred you, I highly recommend sending out these thank you emails asap.

• Second, know that you’ve clearly got a good process or some skills in networking. Even though the referrals didn’t end up in meaningful interviews or outcomes, keep networking.

  • For the next few weeks, focus those on getting a good sense of your fit for the roles and industry rather than referrals. Let them know you’ve been receiving referrals but they aren’t ending up in interviews and you’re trying to find out why.

  • The answers from these questions should provide you a much better path forward.

• Finally, get a google sheet together where you keep a record of everyone who has referred you. Set yourself calendar reminders to reach out to them every few months asking how their doing or wishing them a happy holidays.

  • If you were a business, these are your past clients. The cost or effort required to acquire new clients is always about 4x to keep a current one. Make it part of your process to keep this community engaged so you can use their support later.

Conclusion:

You’re onto something with getting referrals - let’s find out why the referrals aren’t working and then tune your process to incorporate more of what’s working for you.

Get your question answered by replying to this email (or just say hi 😊).