How referrals work

The mechanics, and the bit people get wrong.

What a referral actually does

It is much smaller than people imagine. In most companies a referral gets an application looked at by a human, and sometimes skips an early screening call. It does not get anyone hired, and a referral into a company with no suitable opening does nothing at all.

That is still worth a great deal, because the step it skips is the one where most applications quietly disappear.

The order that works

Find the specific opening first. "Let me know if anything comes up" puts the work on them and it never happens.
Ask whether they would be comfortable referring you - that exact framing. It gives an easy way to say no, which is why people say yes.
Send them the things they need in one message: the job link, your CV, and three or four lines they can paste into the referral form.
Apply yourself too, unless told otherwise. Some systems need both halves to match up.
Tell them the outcome either way. Most people never hear how it went, and it is the reason they become reluctant the next time.

The three or four lines

This is the part that gets skipped and it is the part that matters. The referral form usually asks "how do you know this person and why are they a good fit". Somebody who half-knows you will write two vague sentences. Write it for them:

Example We worked together at Northbeam for about two years - she ran the overnight despatch desk while I was on inbound. She is the person who rebuilt the exception process after the 2024 system change, which cut our missed collections by roughly a third. Reliable under a genuinely bad night.

Specific, checkable, and about ninety seconds of their time instead of ten minutes.

Who to ask

Former colleagues beat friends. They can speak to the work.
Someone two years out of touch is fine. Say so plainly rather than pretending the gap is not there.
A stranger on LinkedIn very rarely works, and asking burns the contact. Worth it only if the bonus is large and the role is an exact match - they are, after all, being paid to take the chance.