[HN Gopher] Show HN: A site that puts in a referral for you for ...
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       Show HN: A site that puts in a referral for you for your dream job
        
       Author : upwardline
       Score  : 33 points
       Date   : 2022-05-18 12:43 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (yourfriendat.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (yourfriendat.com)
        
       | searchableguy wrote:
       | This just ends up putting referral on the same place as job
       | application.
        
       | drewrv wrote:
       | I often see people on blind asking for and offering referrals to
       | people who are basically strangers. It makes sense to turn that
       | into a product, so kudos.
       | 
       | That being said, it's always made me feel weird in a way I
       | struggle to articulate. It seems cool to offer an opportunity to
       | someone who needs it, and referral bonuses are nice for workers.
       | 
       | But it does seem to go against the spirit of referral bonuses.
       | 
       | I suppose if companies were really upset by people hacking their
       | referral system they could simply fix their online application
       | process so that it doesn't go nowhere.
       | 
       | Looked at a different way, the companies are essentially paying
       | bonuses to their engineers to do resume screening. It seems like
       | if that's what they really wanted they could ask people to do it
       | as part of their job though.
        
         | bko wrote:
         | I don't think it's hacking the referral system. Especially if
         | the company is paying recruiters a lot more for a successful
         | hire. Most companies would gladly pay an employee over a
         | recruiter. And if you recruit enough people, they'd likely just
         | move you over to the recruiting team!
        
         | Gunax wrote:
         | It's definitely totally bizarre. I think it works only insofar
         | as there is some filter.
         | 
         | I used to hang out one a discord for competitive programming.
         | Many people gave referals to other competitors, even though
         | they may have only known each other through their online
         | interactions around programming competitions.
         | 
         | This worked, until it didn't--people start to show up without
         | any interest in the topic and just referal seeking.
         | 
         | Kind of a tangeant here, but this is how status symbols evolve.
         | First, someone figures out that 'people who do x can do y'.
         | Then, if y is highly desireable (say it's 'work on wallstreet'
         | or 'become an astronaut') suddenly everyone wants to do x, and
         | the association between x and y is lost.
        
       | ricardbejarano wrote:
       | This dilutes the value of referrals, which:
       | 
       | 1. makes it harder for those who earned it to get the boost they
       | need; and
       | 
       | 2. will cause this very site to fail right after it succeeds.
       | 
       | I get the idea, and I think the intentions are great, but I don't
       | think the means are net positive.
        
         | bko wrote:
         | I don't know. I feel like I would be more critical when
         | referring a stranger. If a friend asks me to refer them to a
         | big company, I would likely do so regardless of how good I
         | think they'll be. But if some stranger does, I have no reason
         | to refer this person. So I'll check out what they're doing,
         | maybe look at a side project they're working on or read their
         | blog. And if I think they would be a good fit I would only then
         | refer.
         | 
         | Most places I worked were so desperate for job applications,
         | especially ones that they didn't have to pay a head hunter for,
         | that they'd take pretty much any referral. It has always been
         | hard finding remotely qualified interested candidates.
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-18 23:02 UTC)