Airbnb Referral Process

I was wondering about the Airbnb referral process. I was referred by a LinkedIn contact for New Grad Software Engineer role. The person said I won't get an email and don't have to apply in the portal. It's been more than 3 weeks and I haven't heard a thing from any recruiter. Whereas one of my friend was referred by a contact in Airbnb who provided him a referral link through which he submitted his details. He received a screening interview request within a week. We both have very similar profile and thus I was wondering if I am missing something. Any input would be helpful.