Good share, but I think Lewis missed things like pay it forward (offer help to others before asking for anything) and do what you say you are going to do. Meaning, if you offered to make an intro, or promised to send a link to an article, or whatever, be sure you do it! It's your first step at establishing some trust with this new contact and will likely lead to an ongoing conversation which should include sending a personalized invitation to link on LinkedIn. Sandy Jones-Kaminski www.belladomain.com

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on this part of the hiring process because getting referred for a job is all about my favorite topic: NETWORKING. My thoughts: 1) You have to stay connected to people in your career via in-person or social networking activities in order to get referred (this applies to business as well as jobs). Using LinkedIn to do this is easy and costs you nothing except a little bit of worthwhile time. 2) You learn about what’s referred to as the “hidden job market” by networking and being connected to and trusted by other people. 3) If you spot an opening at a company for which you’d like to work, and then confirm that you have a 1st or 2nd degree connection into said company (typically via a LinkedIn search), one of your best bets to get referred for the job is to ask your direct contact to ask their contact at the hiring company whether they have an employee referral program or not. Why? The person that refers you will likely get an employee referral bonus (usually if you stay at the job for at least 3 months), and when reminded of this, they’re more inclined to make the effort on your behalf, and may even suggest you connect so they can feel even more confident about supporting you as a candidate. So, if you really want to get hired, getting referred by someone the hiring manager or recruiter trusts is the way to go! As the Jobvite research shows, not only do employee referrals have a higher hire rate than candidates from other sources, they’re also hired faster!

Hi Robbie, I know I'm late to the party re: this opening, but just saw that you were looking for a PR guru (me) and checked out your blog. I also thought I'd tell you about a friend/former colleague that would be perfect for this - she's a mom of 2 boys besides being a online marketing queen. @jagoldth (aka Julie Goldthwait - Seattle)