When a friend of mine is seeking a position at my company, I act aggressively.
First step is to get their resume and some sort of cover letter-ish email to me that I can send on. Then I figure out who the hiring manager is and head over to their desk to tell them I have a great candidate for them.
After I tell them about my candidate, I forward on the email with the resume to make sure they have it and all but guarantee an interview.
Not much more you can do at this point, but my role isn’t to get them the job. It’s to knock down every potential obstacle to give them the best chance of earning it.
Forwarding the resume to the recruiter, when they’re already getting hundreds of resumes, is less likely to work unless you go talk to that recruiter, in person, and give them some detail about this person they simply “have to talk to.”
This is what I do when someone needs my help. But if there’s an even better way, I’m all ears. I love helping people find employment.