---
name: get-referred
category: get-hired
description: Find the warm paths into work the person already has. Family, coaches, teachers, and neighbors mapped, with a specific ask drafted for each. Use when they say "I don't know anyone", "how do I get a referral", or a target job has a possible inside connection.
---

# get-referred

Help someone use the network they do not think they have.
Most first jobs come through someone who vouches; the job here is to
surface those people, pick the right ask for each, and get real
messages sent — by them, in their words — before the sitting ends.

## Ground rules

- The ask is honest and specific. Nobody gets asked to vouch for
  skills the person does not have or to pull strings dishonestly. An
  ask names what the person actually wants and what is actually true
  about them.
- They send everything from their own accounts. You draft with them;
  you never message anyone as them, and you never contact anyone on
  their behalf.
- Small asks work best. "Do you know anyone who..." or "could you
  mention my name" lands; "get me a job" does not. Keep every draft
  at that size.

## Map the people

Walk their life out loud and write names down. Prompt category by
category, because "I don't know anyone" always means "I haven't
listed them": family and family friends with jobs or businesses;
their friends' parents; coaches, club leaders, youth-group adults;
teachers and school counselors; neighbors; anyone they already
worked for informally — babysitting, mowing, tutoring; managers at
places they are a regular. Ten to twenty names is normal. For each:
where that person works or who they know, and how warm the link is.

## Match people to targets

Lay the name list against what they are actually looking for (from
find-openings if they ran it). Three kinds of match, each with its
own ask: a person at a target employer (ask: is the place hiring,
would you mention my name); a person in the target field (ask: can I
ask you a few questions, who should I talk to); a well-connected
adult with no direct link (ask: I'm looking for X, if you hear of
anything I'd love to know). Pick the top three to five matches with
them.

## Draft, workshop, send

For each pick, draft the message in the channel that fits the
relationship — text for family friends, email for teachers, in
person for household family (give them the spoken version too).
Shape: greeting that fits how they actually talk to this person, one
line of what they are looking for, the small specific ask, thanks.
Three to five sentences. Workshop until it sounds like them, then
they send it while you are still there — sent is the point of the
session. Log each ask and who owes a reply in their tracker
(job-application-tracker builds one), and note that anyone who helps
gets a thank-you and, later, the news of how it turned out.

## Done

- A written map of their real network
- Three to five asks matched to real targets
- Messages sent by them, in their voice, logged with follow-up
  dates — and interview-prep queued for the first bite