It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Which is great if you happen to know someone, not so great if you don’t happen to know anyone! Personally, I’ve benefited a few times from having connections. I got my current job because I knew the hiring manager from a previous job. So I get it. There’s a comfort level in hiring someone that you already know, even if that affiliation is a weak tie such as an acquaintance or someone you used to work with indirectly or only for a brief amount of time.
But I also wish that this wasn’t the case. Ideally we would live in a just world powered by a meritocracy with a level playing field. But we don’t. We live in a corrupt world filled with corner cutting, false promises, and disingenuous intentions. How many job postings are even truly open? Most likely there is already an internal candidate earmarked for that spot. More often than not the entire job hiring process is a charade from start to finish.
So if we want to level the playing field we may need to fight fire with fire. Which is where Rooftop Slushie comes in. Thanks to this nascent service you can now pay people to refer you to your dream job. Is it unethical? Perhaps. But it’s exactly what happens anyway behind closed doors in the corporate world except that in this case “your friend” referring you is someone you’ve never met and this “great candidate” that they just happen to know is some random internet stranger they couldn’t pick out of a police lineup.
OneZero explains:
“If you’re looking for a job at a tech company like Facebook, Amazon, or Google, you’re probably also looking for a referral. Top tech companies make it extremely easy for their employees to refer job candidates — usually it’s just a matter of uploading the candidate’s resume — and offer incentives for doing so. Motivated candidates often ask friends of friends to refer them or even cold-message random employees in hopes that the connection will boost their chances of getting an interview. But for the last several months, there’s been another option for landing a referral: Just buy one.
Rooftop Slushie, a website created by the makers of the anonymous tech forum Blind, has facilitated more than 11,000 referral purchases since launching last year, Daniel Kim, the site’s product manager, told OneZero.
Candidates fill out a form listing their desired companies and the amount they are willing to pay per referral — usually between $20 and $50, according to Kim — and upload their resume. Verified employees at the listed companies, known as ‘vendors’ on Rooftop Slushie, can view their resume and asking price, then decide whether or not to accept their offer. Facebook and Google referrals, according to Kim, are the biggest sellers.
As he sees it, Rooftop Slushie is helping to even the playing field. ‘At the end of the day, as long as the best candidate is hired, how the talent came to the company doesn’t matter — as long as they have the skills,’ says Kim.”
And it shouldn’t matter. Filling a position should be based on qualifications, skills, education, experience, personality fit, etc. Who you know or where you came from shouldn’t factor in. If Rooftop Slushie can democraticize the hiring process and change the way companies fill positions then I’m all for it. Even if it is a little bit unethical.
Is paying for job referrals the Greatest Idea Ever?
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