Power of Referral

In the final year of my study in university, I started to apply for a full-time job. I applied for a trainee position in the corporate banking department of a well-established bank in Hong Kong. Quite some weeks after my job application, I saw some classmates have already attended interviews of that bank. Some more weeks later, I heard that people started to receive job offers. Still, I have not received any message. Was I so unqualified for an aptitude test or something?

That’s not uncommon. This was the year 2004 in Hong Kong, the year right after the SARS outbreak. I have a GPA less than 3 in a second-tier university in Hong Kong. I have not joined any association or union. I won’t have any prize or honour. I won’t have exchange experience. In fact, I have never left Hong Kong for more than 9 days In my life. What could I expect?

But I love banking industry. That was noticed by a part-time lecturer at that time after I asked questions about banking industry which were not relevant to the coursework or exam. She could feel my interest and curiosity in the industry. She once asked about my job search, and I told her the progress. She then told me she had a classmate (high school I guess) working as the head of some division of that bank. She would help me to check.

She then found out my application was pending on the waiting list in the HR department. Her classmate would follow up my case.

So I have got a group interview. Then I have a second round interview by her classmate – the deputy head of the commercial division of the bank at the time. This interview has changed my life forever. I have got an offer. I stayed with the commercial division of the bank for 3 years and the people I have met have become the influencers in my life.

Even I am now running startup in a completely different industry, I am still working closely with that deputy head, who was then the Head of China Business of a large European bank, then the ED of a famous Swiss private bank, then the MD of one of the most talked about financial group – Rothschild, before he became an entrepreneur.

A word-of-mouth referral can change one’s life. You as the person who made that referral may not even know its power and ripple effect. Are you willing to give more referrals and help more people to succeed?