Most companies like to hire by referral whenever possible. Workers love it because it allows them to network their way into new jobs; organizations love it, because good workers tend to recommend other good workers. So what could possibly be the downside to all of this?
Erin Scottberg of LearnVest did a recent post on the Janedough about the pros and cons of hiring an employee’s friends. The upsides for job seekers are pretty obvious: a way out of the black hole of unanswered email addresses, knowing someone at the company before your start date, and having a good idea of what you’re getting into ahead of time.
Companies, too, stand to benefit: it’s expensive to recruit talent, and hires that come in through employees tend to be better fits for the company, saving the cost of refilling the position.
On the downside, there’s the possibility of hiring a bunch of people with the exact same skill set, effectively cutting the company out of a potential pool of new talents. It’s also not great for diversity. Employees tend to refer candidates of the same race, ethnicity, and sex, which could create a fairly homogeneous company profile.
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