Leveraging a Recommendation from an Influential Source?

Hi everyone,

I'm beginning to apply for jobs in private equity and venture capital. I have a degree from a top-15 university (albeit one without many alumni in finance). I currently work in consulting at an excellent boutique firm (well-respected by those who know of it, but doesn't have huge name recognition in other industries). I've worked multiple finance-related engagements including a couple acquisitions, so I have the requisite modeling/analysis skills. In short, my background has all the necessary components to be successful in PE or VC, but I know the competition is very stiff, and I don't have that one ultra-prestigious hook on my resume (such as ivy league, MBB consulting, BB finance) that will help me land a lot of interviews at the places I want to work.

However, while I was an undergrad I did an internship at which my boss's boss was a former partner at Goldman Sachs, where he was the worldwide head of one of their groups, and he still has a strong reputation in the industry. (Note: My internship was not at GS; the boss was simply a retired GS guy.) I didn't have a ton of contact with him (maybe 5-6 times total, although one of those was an hour-long one-on-one meeting). At the end of the internship, he sent an email personally praising my contributions and thanking me, saying:

"Thanks for your magnificent performance. By all reports you were terrific. We are so incredibly grateful to you and glad you joined our team."

It's not a full letter of recommendation, but it's nonetheless substantial praise from a well-known source. So my question is twofold: first, how can I best leverage this type of recommendation to my advantage in the application/interview process, and second, when during the process should I mention it?

I know that referrals are one of the best ways to get in the door, and even though this isn't a direct referral I'm hoping it could serve as a de facto referral by virtue of being a recommendation from someone important. I know people usually give rec letters later in the process, but it seems the main benefit of this particular letter would not so much be in getting me hired, but rather for resume-readers to decide I'm worth interviewing.

Thoughts? Can something like this make a difference? And how should I proceed?

Sincerely,

Praised and Confused

P.S. I don't feel it is appropriate to contact this guy and ask him to put in a good word for me at a bunch of places. So the the email is the closest thing I'll get to a direct referral. If I were to get a job offer contingent on him verifying his recommendation, I'm sure he'd be happy to do so, but I'm not going to ask him to do anything more than that.