“Referrals don’t work,” my client told me last week.

“This year I’ve received 17 referrals through various methods – either through formal employee referral systems or direct introductions to recruiters from company employees. Despite these warm introductions, I haven’t secured any interviews through this approach.”

Seventeen referrals. Zero interviews.

When I dug deeper, I found two problems:

1. He was a product manager. But he was applying to RevOps/GTM roles without adjusting his resume.

2. All 17 were “weak” referrals. Aakash Gupta had a great definition for this: “referrals from people who haven’t worked with you, and just drop you into the ATS (which people do because their company has a monetary bonus).”

That’s not a referral.

That’s a reroute to nowhere.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

• Why traditional referrals have become meaningless (and what actually works)

• How to create undeniable proof of your abilities before you apply

• The exact playbook to skip the resume pile and get direct access to hiring managers

…and more!

⚡️ Quick note: my clients have been crushing with their interview conversions. For example, going from 0 to 4 inbound messages from recruiters after making a few tweaks to their resume and LinkedIn profile.

So last week, I quietly started offering a service where I personally optimize your job search materials (resume, LinkedIn, and cover letter). That way, your applications actually get responses, and recruiters reach out to you.

Here’s an example of what one looks like:

The response has been awesome, so I’ll be testing for a few more weeks… But I’m already pumped about opening up this service to more people 😎

🎭 The Truth About Referral Theater

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if someone’s never worked with you, clicking a referral button isn’t going to help.

It’s what I call: “referral theater.”

Real referrals happen when someone stakes their reputation on your abilities. When they’re willing to champion you before—and after—you join an organization.

Before I joined Noom, Crystal Widjaja gave me this advice:

”Win ‘amplifiers’ at your company. It’ll make the difference wherever you go in your career.”

An amplifier holds a position of power and can directly advocate for you to get promotions, secure resources, and get hired.

Developing amplifiers is not easy. It takes a lot of time. A lot of relationship building.

But here’s the good news:

You don’t need to wait for someone to discover you.

Peter Yang said this recently and it really stuck with me:

“You can just do things.”

You can create your own opportunities. You can prove your value upfront. You can skip the gatekeepers entirely.

Here’s the three-step system that works:

🔍 Step 1: Research Like You’re Already on the Team

Before you can demonstrate value, you need to understand what value looks like to them.

This isn’t about surface-level company research. You’re going deeper. You’re studying their business like you’re already part of the team and trying to solve their real problems.

What to Look For

• Recent LinkedIn posts from leadership about challenges or initiatives

• Product updates or launches that might create new needs

• News coverage about their growth, funding, or market position

• Customer reviews that reveal pain points

• Earnings calls or investor updates (for public companies)

👉 Do this:

Pick 3-5 companies where you’d genuinely want to work. Spend real time understanding their business, not just skimming their About page.

✍️ Use this prompt:

Use Perplexity to research company challenges with this prompt: “What challenges is [Company] facing in [your expertise area] based on recent news, earnings calls, and leadership posts?”

Perplexity acts like your research assistant intern.

It’ll can scan multiple sources simultaneously, so instead of manually reading through dozens of articles, earnings transcripts, and social posts, you can get a structured overview in minutes.

📝 Step 2: Create Proof That You Can Solve Their Problems

Here’s where high agency separates the winners from everyone else waiting for permission.

Instead of optimizing your resume for the hundredth time, create something that makes your capabilities undeniable.

The “Show Your Work” Method

Based on your research, identify one specific problem you can solve. Then create a professional analysis, recommendation, or solution that demonstrates your thinking process.

I call this the “Show Your Work” method.

What This Looks Like in Practice

• For Product roles: Create a feature recommendation based on user feedback analysis

• For Marketing roles: Design a campaign strategy for their upcoming product launch

• For Sales roles: Analyze their current outreach and propose an optimized sequence

• For Engineering roles: Propose a technical solution to a problem they’ve mentioned publicly

🧪 Research with Claude:

Use Claude to help structure your analysis with this prompt: “Help me create a professional deck that addresses [specific problem]. Include: problem statement, proposed solution, implementation timeline, and expected outcomes. Make it specific to [Company]’s situation.”

🎨 Create with Gamma:

After finishing your content, use Gamma to make it look good.

Just upload what you wrote and Gamma will create polished slides for you. You can match the company’s colors and add charts if you want.

This way, you don’t have to worry about making things pretty—you can focus on creating good content.

📊 Present with Loom:

Record a short video walkthrough of your deck using Loom.

Keep it under 5 minutes.

This shows hiring managers how you think and communicate.

Bonus: Loom tells you when someone watches your video, so you’ll know if they saw it 😎

Why This Works (And Why Resumes Don’t)

Your proof of work answers the question every hiring manager has: “Can this person actually do the job?”

Resumes list qualifications. Proof of work demonstrates how you think and solve problems.

This is high agency. Or at Clay, what they call “negative maintenance.”

You’re not waiting for someone to give you a chance. You’re creating evidence that you deserve one.

👉 Do this:

Spend one weekend creating something impressive for one company rather than sending generic applications to fifty companies.

🎪 Step 3: Get Your Work in Front of Decision Makers

Now comes the crucial part: getting your proof of work in front of someone who can actually hire you.

Skip the recruiter bottleneck entirely. Find the person who makes hiring decisions and give them a compelling reason to talk.

Two Approaches That Work

Approach 1: Build in public

Share your work publicly in a way that naturally gets their attention:

• LinkedIn post analyzing their recent product launch

• Blog article proposing solutions to industry challenges they’ve mentioned

• Thoughtful comment on their posts with specific, actionable insights

Approach 2: Direct Outreach

Not everyone can build in public, e.g. you’re currently employed at another company.

No problem. Instead, send your proof of work directly a decision maker with context about why you created it.

How to Find the Right Person

• LinkedIn search for the team lead in your target area

• Check company org charts on their website

• Look for recent posts about team growth or new challenges

👉 Or try this:

Use Clay to find decision makers and their contact info quickly. It searches LinkedIn and company websites to find the right people. You can search by job title or department, and even find people talking about problems you can solve. Clay also gets their email addresses and shows you their recent posts and company updates – everything you need to reach out in a personal way.

Note: I consult with Clay and have broken down the above process here and here. Check out those guides if you need more detail.

✍️ Use this script:

“Hi [Name], I’ve been following [Company]’s work in [specific area]. I noticed [specific challenge they mentioned] and put together some thoughts on [solution]. I thought you might find them interesting. Would you be open to a brief call to discuss?”

Notice: You’re leading with insight, not desperation. Your outreach should feel like a colleague sharing valuable work, not a job seeker begging for a job.

💫 The Bottom Line

Fake referrals are dead. But opportunities for people who take initiative have never been better.

The companies worth working for want people who:

• Solve problems before being asked

• Take ownership of outcomes

• Prove their value through action, not credentials

Two quick caveats to this approach:

1. It’s most effective for startups and growth companies with flexible hiring processes, and may be challenging for larger corporations or highly regulated industries.

2. This isn’t about “doing work for free.” It’s about proving your value through meaningful contributions.

Yes, you need to optimize for the ATS.

Yes, referrals are powerful.

But the right proof of work at the right time to the right person can help you skip all the theater.

Remember, you can just do things.

So go do them.