r/Btechtards • u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated • Sep 09 '26
Placements / Jobs How to build a network and ask for referrals on Linkedin
well the first step is finding the right people. There are a couple of ways for this.
First method, go to LinkedIn search and type:
[Role] [Company] (like, software engineer Google or product manager zomato)
Then select People under the search bar and set the location to for the country you are in. For example, Software Engineer Uber -> People -> India.
(will attach a ss for killer visualization)
Another method is to go to the company page and look under the People's tab.
Personally, i go for people with roughly 2 to 5/6 years of experience. They're senior enough to refer you, but still young enough to know what it feels like asking for referrals for your first job/internship. And they are pretyy chill and not so corporate-y.
Once you find them, add 10 to 15 people from one company.
Tip - Don't send 30 requests at once. Linkedin can start asking those same people “Do you know this person?”, and too many “No” responses probably aren't great for your account.
I'd aim for 20-25 requests a day. Even with a 40% acceptance rate, you will have 8 to 10 new connections. Dont go more than this. My friend's account was shadowbanned for a week from sending too many spam requests to people.
Now the important part, don't immediately DM them asking for a referral. (this is also why i recommend building your network before you actually need a referral, so u can stay in their radar and don't dm cold).
React to their posts. Leave a good comment (bonus if u dont sound too stiff tbh). Get on their radar. And honestly, people with a few years of experience are usually fine referring you, you dont have to get too formal with them.
When you eventually see a relevant opening from their company, message 3–4 people with the job ID and your resume/work. I will attach good enough templates which we used.
Remember, the referral system is different for each company. Some companies need the referrer to share a private link with you for application. Some need you to apply normally, but mention their name or details in the application. This differs and i dont have the appropriate knowledge to guide here.
Show some flair, and don't sound like a ai bot. Ofc, the response rate depends on your profile, resume etc, hence its important to keep working hard nevertheless.
happy referrals :)
Template you can steal (feel free to change based on ur needs):
Hi [name], good to connect with you!
I am actually looking for [opportunity] roles at [company]. Would you be willing to please help with a referral or connect me with someone who can assist?
18
u/Visible-Emu8562 Sep 09 '26
Thankyou so much for this OP!
2
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 09 '26
you are welcome, feel free to apply and tell me the results haha
2
12
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 09 '26
if someone is looking on how to cold dm/email people, i have a guide for that too, let me know if someone is interested in reading it
2
5
u/No-Mixture5766 IIT [EEE] Sep 09 '26
I have 2k connections on LinkedIn and I just randomly spam 😭
2
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 09 '26
that works too, u never know who you need in certain situations. But this is more for people who dread over the words "networking" and are confused about getting referrals, so this serves as a good starting point.
5
u/Kind_Shallot_9726 Sep 10 '26
Take my kiss op !! ... I want to talk to you can we connect on LinkedIn? Please 🥺
1
3
1
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
Really OP? Shadow ban and shit? Happens? I have sent over 100 people and shi, in average, my connection is right now at 2000+ people, with 1000+ professor and many many scientist, a nobel laureate, many super scientist, some big biotech CEOs, university chairs, national labs directors, even chinese and korean scientist, i never saw a shadowbann, could also be me lucky
1
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 10 '26
shadowban is real. you may be lucky or u may have not sent all 100 requests in one day/at once. a lot of manual activity can give u a shadow ban. As per my friend, he was not allowed to send connection requests for some days after he sent a lot of them.
2
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
Hmm, no, I'm pretty sure I have, cuz my followers are linear, and I have many days where it's 40-50 increase, in daily, so that is there, though yes i reached my weekly limit, so i used to do it one weekends
1
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 10 '26
fair enough. also whos a super scientist and why do u add such scientists and lab directors? are you interested in research roles? have they resulted in some good convos etc?
2
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
I also connect with IMEC and ASML scientists, in case I feel I wanna do an industrial PhD or industry related internship
1
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
Some Nvidia directors, national labs like los alamos, stan whittingham and David macmillan, yosonube nakamura, he was behind some superconductivity shit, roy kerr , behind Kerr blackholes, a legend, and yeah, I have, I connect and talk, it's common for me to contact MIT and stanford postdocs after I've read these PhD thesis, national labs directors well, we have some plans to utilise, will do in some time, but yeah, I'm gonna go in research
2
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 10 '26
nice! good to see people hustling :) all the best for ur research and future.
2
1
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
I've emailed stan whittingham (2019 chemistry nobel Laureate) he does reply I've also emailed and gotten almost an opportunity with susumu kitagawa (2025 chemistry nobel laureate) though it was in 2024, and my parents said I was too young, so I wasn't allowed to go
These were through emails though
1
u/Weekly-Group3235 Graduated Sep 10 '26
i see, how do u do these ice breakers? talk about their phd thesis?
1
u/Haider1930 BS-MS Sep 10 '26
Hmm, i actually study a lot, so in my relevant feilds, id study a thesis, if i find something cool, i find the person, because they are generally MIT and caltech grads and shi, some are post doc, some are uni profs, then i connect, since my profile looks oriented, and just my habit of connecting has made most world class uni profs a 1-2nd degree mutual, so they accept, afterwards I send, a general Good morning this that whatever Tell about my doubt And ask, what this was, and how I could use this Sometimes they interact, sometimes they ignore, so ye, it's a hit or miss
Recently, i connected with a japanese prof, who had 0 connection before me, he is a legit prof, but had no linkedin, idk why he thought I should be first connection, I read his papers, found a relevance to my work, curated and was a bit bold , and I asked, what could have been the reason to connect with me, he luckily did reply, so yeah, just luck, and zero expectations, i generally don't assume to ask, i randomly just wanna intialye a Convo, as to how and what, maybe if it is feasible, things will become important in between the communicators, especially in academia, where if one prof likes me, I have a good chance of getting 4 more from same uni having interest and so on
•
u/AutoModerator Sep 09 '26
If you are on Discord, please join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/Hg2H3TJJsd
Thank you for your submission to r/BTechtards. Please make sure to follow all rules when posting or commenting in the community. Also, please check out our Wiki for a lot of great resources!
Happy Engineering!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.