How Do I Ask My Friend For A Job?

So, your friend has your dream job, has the power to hire people at work, has their own business or does something you would love to do. Asking friends for help is totally cool as long as you do it the right way. “Hey, can you get me a job at…,” is one way to ask but it could put a lot of pressure on your friend and if he or she is working at some incredible company, he or she may hear this ALL the time. Annoying! Plus you may want to ask someone who is just an acquaintance and being that direct may not feel appropriate.

Here are some other ways to get you closer to a job you want:

• Offer to take your friend out to lunch/dinner so you can ask them a bunch of questions about what they do. Be clear about the intention of this meeting-make sure they don’t think it’s a date and let them know you want to talk some shop. Go hang out with your friend and his/her co-workers to get to know the culture/work environment you’re looking into.
• Ask for help in looking at your resume. “What does your company/hiring managers look for on resumes?” “Would you take a look at my resume?” “May I take a look at the resume you used to get your job?”
• Ask questions like, “do you think I’m a good fit for X job or company culture?”
• Get a highlight reel-what do they LOVE about this job, what do they dislike?
• If you can afford it, ask how you can possibly intern or shadow for a period of time.

When I was a head hunter, it was totally appropriate for friend to literally ask me for a job. With other work, I was more comfortable being approached in the ways above. People really like helping people so ask for it and give it! I love the idea of picking who I get to work with!