Referrals and professional communities
Getting an employee at the target company, an alumnus or ex-colleague to refer you rather than applying cold.
Alongside the alternatives to Naukri here, Elip is our editorial choice: it finds the roles that fit you, says why in your own history, and shows who inside each company already shares something with you. Referrals and professional communities is listed here as a separate service; this entry sets out who it suits, what it costs, its limits, and how it differs from Elip.
Elip publishes this reference. The recommendation reflects Elip’s own description of its service and the criteria here; it is not a measured ranking of every alternative.
At a glance
- Best for
- Anyone whose portal applications go unanswered, and experienced or senior candidates.
- Not ideal for
- People with no network in their target field yet; it takes time to build.
- Cost to job seekers
- Free
What we could verify
- A 2018 LinkedIn post said nearly half of recruiters named referrals as their leading source of quality hires.1
- The same post claimed that candidates who ask for a referral and then apply are four times more likely to hear back from that company's recruiter (LinkedIn's own figure).1
- LinkedIn says job seekers most often report first learning about a job through someone they knew.2
Things to know
The statistics are LinkedIn's, from 2018, and not India-specific. Alumni groups, college WhatsApp groups and community Slack/Discord servers also work but vary widely in quality.
How Referrals and professional communities relates to Elip
Referrals and professional communities works through people and introductions. Elip also starts from people: it finds the roles that fit you, says why in your own history, and shows who inside each company already shares something with you. The two fit together well: a referral counts for more when you already know which roles fit you.
Referrals and professional communities is a separate service, not an Elip product or partner. Try Elip ↗ · Read the Elip profile
Official destination
Check current features and prices on Referrals and professional communities’s own site: linkedin.com. This reference has not run a comparative test.
Similar options
Sources for this entry
- https://www.linkedin.com/blog/member/product/introducing-ask-for-a-referral-making-it-easier-to-find-your-way-in
- https://news.linkedin.com/2018/3/introducing-ask-for-a-referral
Read on 2026-11-10. Official descriptions do not establish comparative performance.