Yes. A referral improves your odds enormously, roughly 40 times to the interview stage, but its absence is not a reason to skip a role you fit. Cold applications get read too; a clean, specific, posting-matched resume is exactly what survives that colder path.
Without a referral, the mechanics work harder for you or against you. You need the knockout questions answered accurately, a resume that parses into a clean record, the vocabulary of the posting so searches retrieve you, and a top third that survives a first scan of about 7 seconds.
And keep the referral option open even after applying. A message to someone at the company after you submit can still attach a human to your file. The application starts the clock; it does not end the conversation.
“No referral means the resume does all the talking, so make sure it stops mumbling.”
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