How to Reach Any Recruiter (Even Without a Referral)

Before we start, let me ask you:

► How many times have you sent out job applications… and heard nothing back?

And I am talking about the times when there’s not even a rejection email or the slightest feedback. Just plain silence.

It feels unfair, right?
And for the most part it just sucks…cause you have:

- got the credentials. 
- put in the work and time
- followed every step you were supposed to take. 

But still, you’re not getting the results. 

And I understand that cause I’ve been there.

Because we’re having this problem,
Let’s work on a solution. 

What you are at this moment is highly qualified,
But what you’re not is VISIBLE, and that’s what this newsletter is about. 

In this market, it’s not the most qualified candidate who gets hired, it’s the most visible one.

That means:
→ People with strong outreach land interviews
→ People who show up in front of recruiters do better than those who apply blindly
→ And people who know how to find the right decision-makers skip the long lines altogether

I know this because I spoke with a cybersecurity engineer who got hired at Intel without a referral. This is our podcast.

This is the exact strategy he told me about that I am sharing with you: 

► Step 1: Find University Recruiters 

Every major company has dedicated university recruiters,
but most international students never find them.

They search “Recruiter” and give up when nothing useful pops up.

Here’s how to find them:

→ Start LinkedIn  

→ Search: "University Recruiter" AND "Intel" (Replace with your target company)

→ Use the People filter  

→ You’ll find current + former recruiters linked to the company’s university programs

Even if they’re not currently hiring, they know who is.  

Even if they’re not replying promptly, you’ll be at the top of the inbox. 

Moreover, it might be that you don’t obtain specific results with this search, but you will have 90 percent relevant results, and that is an awesome starting point. 

Also, when you go to their profiles, look at their “Activity” section.  

→ Have they posted job openings recently?  

→ Comment with value before you DM them. It builds familiarity.

► Step 2: Don’t Rely on LinkedIn Alone

The engineer who got hired at Intel didn’t stop at LinkedIn.

He reverse-engineered the internet to reach hiring managers.

Here’s how he did it:

→ Opened Google 

→ Typed:  

site:linkedin.com/in intitle:"security" AND intitle:"manager" AND "Intel"

This finds every profile where the person has “Security” and “Manager” in their title, and is associated with Intel.

You can replace the parameter with what is relevant to your target. 

Also, you can go even beyond this:

intext:"security" AND intext:"manager" AND "Intel"

It’ll pull up blog posts, job boards, speaker bios, and any place where these keywords appear. And boom, you have names.

These are the people who can influence hiring decisions. 
Yes, these are the Decision-makers.

Btw, on the subject of not relying on LinkedIn alone for job search, I want to recommend you two useful platforms that can help make parts of your job search easier. 

1) Teal - Use this to tailor your resume to different job roles 

2) Jobright - Use this to find fresh job listings sourced from every major company on the internet that’s hiring & track your job applications. 

► Step 3: Reach Out 

Once you’ve found the recruiter or manager, your next move should not be to drop your resume like a hot potato.

No, we want to build trust and start a conversation first, 

Here’s a sample message: (Some other templates to help you)

 “Hi {recruiter}, I’m currently pursuing my Master’s in Cybersecurity at [Univ]. I recently came across your profile while researching Intel’s security team. I’d love to learn more about your work and whether your team is hiring interns this summer. Would appreciate any advice you can share.”

→ Notice the tone: It is polite, curious, and non-pushy, and that’s what you want to do. 

→ You can follow up 5–7 days later if they don’t respond. Sometimes, a gentle nudge is what gets the conversation going.

One last thing, 

Outreach isn’t a numbers game.
It’s a feedback loop.

→ Keep a tracker of who you reached out to  

→ What you said  

→ Who replied  

→ What worked  

This helps you double down on what’s effective and tweak what’s not.  

In a market this competitive, iteration = survival.

And that’s it. 

Some other awesome podcasts you can listen to for job strategies:

1) Pranjal’s Story
2) Maya’s Story
3) Siddhi’s Story

Also, just like this strategy that I shared with you, I share multiple other tested ways to network, tweak your resume, and strategize to land an interview at your dream company in my ULTIMATE JOB HUNTING COURSE. 

We’ve got more than 1800+ international students like you in the job hunting community, so if you’re still struggling and want a hand to help you out. I am there, just come :)

Until next time,

Keep smiling and keep hustling!

Yudi J