Hey there!

Welcome to your daily dose of curated early-career opportunities! Your job search shouldn’t feel confusing, late, or based on luck.

Here's what nobody tells you about the job search: it's not about applying to more jobs. It's about being first.

The same role LinkedIn shows you 3-5 days from now is already sitting in a pile of 500 applications. Runway pulls jobs straight from company career sites the moment they post, so you see them first, when there are 15 applicants, not 500. 

Who sees the role and applies first is the whole game.

Here are today's fresh opportunities for Tuesday, September 8th:

Referrals are one of the most powerful things in a job search, referred candidates get interviewed at far higher rates. The problem is most people only feel comfortable asking close friends, and you don't always have a close friend at your target company. The good news: you can absolutely ask someone you barely know, an acquaintance, an alum, a distant connection, if you do it the right way. Here's how.

Understand why this works even with weak connections

It feels awkward to ask someone you barely know for a favor. But here's what makes it work: many companies pay employees a bonus for successful referrals, so referring a good candidate can actually benefit them. It's often not the pure favor you think it is.

On top of that, most people are willing to help someone from a shared background, same school, same field, a mutual connection, especially when you make it easy. Weak ties are actually where a lot of opportunities come from, precisely because they connect you to networks you don't already have.

Warm it up before you ask (if you can)

If you truly barely know the person, don't lead with the big ask cold. Send a short, friendly message first, reference the connection (shared school, a mutual contact, their work), and start a bit of a conversation.

Even one small exchange makes the eventual ask feel far more natural and less transactional. If there's genuinely no time to warm it up, a polite, low-pressure direct ask can still work, just be extra gracious about it.

Make the ask specific and easy

The single most important thing: remove all the effort for them. Don't just say "can you refer me?" and leave them to figure out the rest. Hand them everything they need.

Include the specific role and link, why you're a fit in one line, your resume, and an offer to write a short blurb they can copy-paste. When you've done 90% of the work, referring you becomes a 30-second yes instead of a chore. That's what gets a weak connection to say yes.

Give them an easy out

Because you barely know them, explicitly make it okay to say no. A line like "totally understand if you're not comfortable since we haven't worked together directly, no pressure at all" actually makes people more likely to help.

It signals you're respectful and not entitled, which builds trust. Paradoxically, giving someone permission to decline often makes them want to say yes. Pressure repels; graciousness attracts.

Provide a copy-paste blurb

This is the detail most people skip, and it's the difference-maker. Offer a ready-to-send paragraph they can drop straight into the referral form or send to their recruiter.

Something like: "[Your name] is a [year] at [school] with experience in [skill]. I think they'd be a strong fit for [role] because [reason]." Now they don't have to think or write anything, they just submit. Removing that last bit of friction is often what turns "I'll get to it" into an actual referral.

Keep the tone humble and appreciative

Since this is someone you barely know doing you a real favor, lead with genuine gratitude and humility. Thank them sincerely, acknowledge you appreciate them considering it, and keep the whole thing low-pressure.

People help those who are gracious and respectful of their time, and they remember those who weren't. How you ask shapes whether they'd ever help you again, so make it a pleasant, easy interaction regardless of the outcome.

Follow up gracefully if they help (or don't)

If they refer you, thank them warmly and later let them know how it went, people love hearing their help mattered. If they don't respond or can't help, leave it alone graciously; don't push or take it personally.

Either way, you've started a relationship you can nurture. And a referral is a bonus, not your only path, so keep applying directly regardless. Don't hinge everything on one person's help.

Do this today: Pick one company from today's list, then search your school's alumni or your connections who work there. Find one person, warm it up if you can, and send a specific, easy, gracious ask with a copy-paste blurb ready. Even a distant connection can be the referral that changes your search.

-Ford from Runway

See you in your inbox tomorrow morning,

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