Skills / Get referred
Get referred
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.
Use this skill. Nothing to install.
Don't have an agent? · Raw file: skills/get-referred.md
Watch the first two minutes
This is how a session goes for someone convinced they know nobody. Click through it.
Scripted example of a real session.
Convinced you don't know anyone?
Ten to twenty names is the normal result of actually walking your life category by category: family and family friends, your friends' parents, coaches, teachers, neighbors, people you've already worked for informally, and the places where you are a regular. Nobody gets asked to vouch for skills you don't have, and nobody gets asked to pull strings. The asks are small enough that saying yes is easy.
What you end up with
A written map of your real network, the top matches picked, and messages actually sent. Here is a map excerpt and one sent ask.
- Each person gets the ask that fits. Someone at a target employer gets "would you mention my name". Someone in the field gets "can I ask you a few questions". A well-connected adult gets "if you hear of anything". Never "get me a job".
- Sounds like a real text because it is one. Greeting the way she actually talks to this person, one line of what she wants, the small ask, thanks. Five sentences, all true.
- Sent during the session, from her phone. Drafts that survive the sitting die there. Every ask gets logged with a follow-up date.
Questions people actually ask
Is this free?
The skill is free, no account, no catch. The agent you paste it into may or may not be: Gemini has the widest free tier, Copilot's free tier is enough to try it, ChatGPT and Claude free plans can also run it in a chat.
Isn't asking people you know embarrassing?
The big ask is embarrassing; the small ask is normal. "Would you mention my name if something opens up" is a favor adults do happily, and most first jobs arrive through exactly this kind of vouch. The drafts stay small on purpose.
Will it message people for me?
No. Every message goes from your own account, in your words, sent by you. The agent drafts with you and workshops until it sounds like you, and then you press send while the session is still open.
Is this cheating somehow?
No. A referral is someone saying a true thing about you to someone who trusts them. The skill refuses the dishonest version: nobody gets asked to vouch for skills you don't have, and every ask names what is actually true.
What if nobody replies?
Each ask gets one follow-up date in your tracker, and the follow-up skill handles that nudge. Some asks go quiet and that is fine; three to five small asks usually surface at least one real lead, and the map is yours to reuse next time.
Where to go from here
Asks sent? Keep the machine running:
Widening the search?
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets
--- 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