Outreach: referrals and cold contact¶

A referral from someone who knows your work is the strongest way into a competitive team. This file shows how to build those relationships before you need them, and gives annotated message templates for each situation. Principle: make it easy and low-risk for someone to vouch for you. That means legible public work (labs, write-ups, pull requests) and a specific, small ask.

Contents: Build the network · Templates · Follow-up rules · Tracking · Don'ts

Build the network before you need it¶

Engage with people's public work for weeks before any ask: a thoughtful comment, a reproduction of their result, a pull request to their repo, a question that shows you read the paper.
Contribute in communities where core-AI engineers spend time: GPU MODE, EleutherAI, Hugging Face forums and Discord, open-source repos you use in the labs, and local meetups in Bengaluru.
Aim for about one genuine new relationship per week. After a year that is around 50 people who have seen your work.
Give before asking: share a benchmark result someone would find useful, fix a doc bug in their project, answer questions in the communities above.

Tip

The best first message contains a result the recipient did not have before: "I reproduced your figure 3 on a consumer GPU and the effect shrinks at small batch sizes; here's the notebook." It gives them a reason to reply and shows the work you would do on their team.

Templates (annotated)¶

Keep every message under 120 words. The bracketed numbers explain why each line exists.

1. First contact (no ask)¶

Hi <name>, I read your <post / paper / PR> on <topic>.                 [1]
I reproduced <specific result> on <hardware> and found <one concrete    [2]
observation> (<link>).
Curious whether you saw <specific question>?                           [3]
No ask beyond that; thanks for publishing it.                          [4]

1. Shows you engaged with their work, not their employer's brand. 2. Evidence of your ability, delivered as something useful to them. 3. A question that is easy and interesting to answer invites a reply. 4. Removes the pressure. Relationships built this way lead to referrals later.

2. Asking for a referral after a conversation¶

Thanks again for the chat about <topic>.                                [1]
I'm applying to <exact role, link> on <team>.                          [2]
Given <the relevant work you know I've done>, would you be comfortable  [3]
referring me?
Here's a 3-line summary you can paste: <summary>.                       [4]
Totally fine if not.                                                    [5]

1. Anchors the request in a real prior interaction. 2. An exact role and link: the referrer doesn't have to search. 3. Reminds them what they can vouch for, and asks about comfort, not obligation. 4. Makes referring a two-minute task. Write the summary in third person, with links. 5. A graceful exit keeps the relationship intact either way.

3. Introduction via a mutual contact¶

Hi <mutual>, would you be open to introducing me to <target>?          [1]
I'm working on <specific overlap> and would value 15 minutes of their   [2]
perspective on <question>.
Happy to send a short blurb you can forward.                            [3]

1. Asks the mutual contact first, so they can decline privately. 2. A specific reason and a small time request. 3. A forwardable blurb (3 lines, with a link) saves the mutual contact the work.

4. Cold message to a hiring manager¶

<One line on a specific thing their team shipped or published.>          [1]
<One line of evidence you can do that work, with a link to your artifact.> [2]
Is <role> still open, and is this the kind of background you're          [3]
looking for?

1. Proves relevance in the first line; hiring managers skim. 2. The artifact carries the message; adjectives don't. 3. A yes/no question that is easy to answer, even with "no, but talk to X".

5. Replying to a recruiter who contacted you¶

Thanks for reaching out. I'm interested in <team / area> and would be    [1]
glad to talk. For context, my recent work is <one line + link>.         [2]
I'm available <two or three time slots with time zone>.                  [3]

1. Signals interest and steers toward the team you want. 2. Gives the recruiter something to pass to the hiring manager. 3. Removes a round of scheduling messages. Then use the recruiter-call script.

Follow-up rules¶

One follow-up, 7–10 days later, adding something new (a result, a relevant write-up). Then stop.
Thank people who helped and tell them the outcome, whatever it was. People who referred you want to know.
Keep your promises: if you said you would send a blurb or a notebook, send it the same day.

Tracking¶

date	person	how we met	what I gave	what I asked	status	next touch

Don'ts¶

"Please refer me for any role"; a résumé attached to a first message; the same message to ten people at one company; more than one follow-up; asking for a referral from someone who has never seen your work; claiming a connection that does not exist.