I think there are three categories rather than just two. Cold application, reached out to by a recruiter, or referred by a former colleague. Seeing how internal

I think there are three categories rather than just two. Cold application, reached out to by a recruiter, or referred by a former colleague. Seeing how internal recruiting or "sourcing" works, I don't see it as being vastly different from a cold application. Someone dredged up your profile on LinkedIn and reached out to you based on a keyword search (in all likelihood). Once you responded, they passed you off to the recruiting pipeline. There's not much more signal in you having a keyword on LinkedIn as having a keyword on your resume. Only the third, a referral from an actual ex-colleague, would I skip any of the basic vetting steps. (Said differently, I agree "that's the (in-house) recruiter's job, or hiring manager's"; this is them doing it...)