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Why is it that companies prioritize candidates that have come through referrals?
If you don't have connections, you can't land a job that isn't advertised publicly.
Publicly advertising a job is tedious.
If you have connections, you can land the job before it is advertised publicly; therefore the job won't be advertised publicly. If you don't have connections, you can't land a job that isn't advertised publicly. Publicly advertising a job is tedious.
For new grads, this means using your friends and connections (professors etc) from school to help land a job. In the absence of that ability, get out and meet people and show employers you are awesome. For developers, creating a public git repository is an awesome way to let them see your skills.
If you have connections, you can land the job before it is advertised publicly; therefore the job won't be advertised publicly. If you don't have connections, you can't land a job that isn't advertised publicly. Publicly advertising a job is tedious.
That makes sense. Considering the resources required to shortlist candidates and interview them, companies would any day prefer to avoid it. Is there any relevant data, how many such jobs may exist that are not 'advertised'?
I am under the impression that this sort of under-the-radar hiring occurs enough to be a significant cause of institutional racism in hiring. (If your existing employees are disproportionately white, and their friends and acquaintances are disproportionately white, then new employees who fill a position before it is publicly advertised will be disproportionately white; and this is without anyone being overtly or consciously racist, and without non-whites being discouraged in any way from applying.)
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter)
Adding the cost aspect, it's clear why companies like referral programs
This is why most companies fail eventually. Hiring and promoting based on relationships instead of skills. You can grow a relationship. But a bad employee will never get any better. Especially if you bump him up to management.
It's the evil you know vs taking a chance on the unknown. Plus the short-term thinking that plagues most people. This is why most companies fail eventually. Hiring and promoting based on relationships instead of skills. You can grow a relationship. But a bad employee will never get any better. Especially if you bump him up to management.
It's the evil you know vs taking a chance on the unknown. Plus the short-term thinking that plagues most people. This is why most companies fail eventually. Hiring and promoting based on relationships instead of skills. You can grow a relationship. But a bad employee will never get any better. Especially if you bump him up to management.