# Networking And Referrals

> Use when the user wants a warm way into a target company. Trigger phrases: "get me a referral", "who do I know at X", "find a warm intro", "reach out to the hiring manager", "is there a path in besides the portal". Maps warm paths into a company/role, ranks them by strength, names the hiring manager and recruiter, and drafts the right personalized outreach message for the human to send.

- Skill: `guerrilla2799/networking-and-referrals` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add guerrilla2799/networking-and-referrals`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/guerrilla2799/networking-and-referrals/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: guerrilla2799 (https://skillmd.com/u/guerrilla2799)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/guerrilla2799/networking-and-referrals

---


# Networking & Referrals

Turn a target company into a warm path in. Referrals are consistently one of the highest-converting sources of hires, which is why this skill warms the path before you apply. So this is the highest-leverage move in the whole search. Treat "just apply through the portal" as the last resort, not the first step.

## When to use
- The user has a role they want at a specific company and hasn't applied yet (the best case, since getting warm before you apply beats the portal)
- "Who do I know there?", "find me a referral", "who's the hiring manager", "help me reach out"
- A role scored well in `job-fit-scoring` (A/B priority) and deserves a real push, not a portal submission
- After applying, when the app is sitting in a black hole and needs a human to surface it

## Inputs
- Reads: `workspace/profile/profile.md` (positioning, proof points), `workspace/profile/target-companies.md`, the application record `workspace/pipeline/applications/<id>-*.md`, `workspace/pipeline/tracker.csv` (existing contact/referral_path), `templates/outreach-templates.md`
- Needs from user:
  - Their network at or near the company. Ask: "Do you know anyone there, or anyone who might?" Ask them to check LinkedIn 1st + 2nd degree, past coworkers, alumni, community and Slack groups. This is the single most important input and it lives in the user's head, so don't skip it.
  - Permission to web-search for the hiring manager and recruiter by name.
  - Optional: `agent-reach` (LinkedIn/people research backend, documented in `docs/integrations.md`) if configured, a power-up for mapping 2nd-degree connections and finding the HM/recruiter. Never required. Degrade to plain web search plus asking the user.

## Workflow
1. **Confirm the target.** One company, one role, one req URL. If there are three, do the strongest-fit one first. This is manual, high-touch work and quality beats volume.
2. **Map every possible warm path.** Build the candidate list:
   - **People the user already knows** there (1st degree), the gold. Ask directly.
   - **2nd-degree**: mutuals who could intro. Ask the user "who do you know who knows someone there?" and/or use `agent-reach`/web search on the company + their network.
   - **Affinity paths**: shared alma mater, past employer, community, open-source, conference, mutual creator/newsletter audience. These make a "cold" note warm.
   - **The hiring team**: identify the **hiring manager** (the person whose team the role sits on) and the **recruiter** on the req, by name. Web-search the role title plus company plus "hiring" or LinkedIn, check the job post's poster, and check the company's team or about page (optional `defuddle` for a clean extract).
3. **Rank the paths by strength.** Always this order. Pursue the strongest available and don't default to cold:
   1. **Internal referral.** Someone inside submits you through the referral system. Highest conversion by far.
   2. **Warm intro via a mutual.** A 2nd-degree connection introduces you to the HM or a team member.
   3. **Direct-but-warm HM note.** No intro, but a genuine affinity/specific hook that makes it not-cold.
   4. **Recruiter.** Reach the recruiter directly after (or instead of) the portal.
   5. **Cold apply.** The portal alone. Baseline only, and never the plan when 1–4 exist.
4. **Pick the play and draft the message.** Choose the matching template from `templates/outreach-templates.md`:
   - path 1 → **referral ask** (#1): make it zero-effort for them by offering a forwardable blurb.
   - path 2 → **intro request** (#2): write the forwardable note so the mutual just hits send.
   - path 3 → **cold HM note** (#3): one specific true sentence tying the user's proof point to a problem the team is visibly solving.
   Personalize hard: name the real person, one verifiable detail (not flattery, but evidence you did the work), **one ask**, **under 90 words**. When asking for a referral, always include a short forwardable blurb the contact can paste. Remove the friction.
5. **Run `writing-quality` on every message.** No exceptions. Strip the AI-slop tells ("I hope this finds you well", "I wanted to reach out", "leverage", "excited about the opportunity"). Short and specific beats polished.
6. **Run `artifact-eval` (outreach spec) as the second gate.** After `writing-quality` passes, submit every drafted message to `artifact-eval` against the outreach spec. Fix any REVISE/FAIL and re-submit until PASS. Only a PASS message goes to the human to send. This mirrors the two-gate sequence in `resume-tailor` and `cover-letter` (writing-quality, then artifact-eval → PASS, human approves/sends).
7. **Record it.** Write into the application record and tracker:
   - `contact` = the person's name/handle, `referral_path` = the ranked path ("internal referral via Jane Doe" / "2nd-degree via Sam @ mutual").
   - Add contacts under `## Contacts & referral path` in the application record with relationship + warm/cold + the drafted message saved to `workspace/output/<id>-outreach-<name>.md`.
   - Set `next_action` = "follow up if no reply" and `next_action_date` = send date + 5–7 business days.
8. **Hand the message to the human. Never auto-send.** Present the draft, the recipient, and where you'd send it (LinkedIn DM / email / referral form). The user reviews and sends. If they report a reply, log it and set the next step (intro accepted means send the forwardable blurb, referral in means apply through the portal *with the referral attached*).

## Output
- Writes to:
  - `workspace/output/<id>-outreach-<name>.md` – the drafted message(s), recipient, channel, and the forwardable blurb
  - `workspace/pipeline/applications/<id>-*.md` – `## Contacts and referral path` populated, plus a timeline note
  - `workspace/pipeline/tracker.csv` – `contact`, `referral_path`, `next_action`, `next_action_date` updated
- Format: each message block = **To / Channel / Message (<90 words) / Forwardable blurb (if referral or intro) / Follow-up date**, closed with a one-line gate receipt: `writing-quality: PASS · artifact-eval: PASS (outreach v<ver>, score N)`. Ranked-paths summary at the top so the user sees why this play was chosen.

## Rules & quality bar
- **Referral > warm intro > warm HM note > recruiter > cold apply.** Always try to move up the ladder before applying. Applying cold when a 2nd-degree path existed is a wasted shot.
- **One ask per message.** Don't stack "intro AND feedback AND coffee". Ask for the single thing that moves you forward.
- **Under 90 words. Every message.** If it scrolls, it's too long.
- **No fabrication.** Don't invent a shared connection, a mutual, or a fake "we met at". Every specific detail must be true. If there's no real hook, say so and use the honest cold-HM note.
- **The user owns their relationships.** You draft. They decide who to contact and what to send. Never auto-send, never mass-blast, never impersonate the user to a real person.
- **Make referral asks effortless for the contact.** Always supply the paste-ready blurb. A referral ask with no blurb dies in the contact's inbox.
- **Every produced message clears both gates before a human sees it: `writing-quality` first, then `artifact-eval` (outreach spec) to a PASS.** Non-negotiable for anything a human will send. Same two-gate sequence as `resume-tailor` and `cover-letter`.

## Related skills
- Reads from: `job-search-setup` (profile/proof points), `job-fit-scoring` (which roles earn this effort), `company-research` (the HM's priorities, the team's problems, which make sharper hooks), `story-bank` (the proof point to lead with)
- Ends with: `writing-quality` (mandatory slop gate on every message), then `artifact-eval` (outreach spec). Both must PASS before the human sends
- Feeds: `application-tracker` (contact + referral_path + follow-up cadence), `interview-prep` (your inside contact is a prep source)
- Optional power-ups: `agent-reach` (people/LinkedIn research), `defuddle` (clean extract of team and about pages). See `docs/integrations.md`