What actually got you your last job?

Not the advice you have read - what actually worked for you. For me it was not the applications. It was one message to someone who had posted about a role two weeks earlier, asking a specific question about the work rather than asking for the job. That turned into a call, and the call turned into an offer that was never advertised. I keep hearing the same split: people who apply through portals wait months, people who talk to someone move in weeks. But that is my small sample, and I would rather hear yours. So: what got you your last role? A referral, a cold message, a portal application, a recruiter, something else entirely? And roughly how long did it take from first contact to offer?