I agree. Referrals are a great way for employers find their next hire. I wouldnt refer someone to my own place of employment if they could potentially make me look bad.
I agree wtih you that I would not totally rely on it as a sole source. I believe it was you who said that if it was coming from a trusted source, the referral becomes more credible. It is an inexpensive or free source of gaining a pool of possible candidates.
I agree with you also that they do gain some credibility however I have had many experiences working in the staffing industry when it came to referrals. Sometimes people will refer friends and you need to be cautious with that one. I would defenitely give them an extra star when considering but it would not be my deciding factor when hiring them. I agree that it should be a source but not relied upon.
Nicole,
I agree on your comment regarding preferential treatment. The candidate does, however, gain some instant credibility regarding their work ethic if one of our employees saw fit to recommend that person. It also gives you a feel for the possible organizational fit of that individual. As I have said before, it is one source of candidates but should, by no means, be the only source.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Gale,
You make great points. What I would add is that the employee making the referral obviously knows this candidate and his/her work habits. This information will be a guage in terms of organizational fit. It is certainly better to know a little bit about a candidate rather than nothing. You will still want to use additional sources and not depend solely on referrals.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I think referrals are defenitley a good place to start and should be considered if the person referring is someone you trust. It also depends on how well the person referring knows the applicant. I would not give any preferential treatment to an applicant purely because they were referred. I would base it on the interview and prior job skills first.
I think a candidate referral from a current employee has a variety of benefits to the organization. First, even if you have a candidate referral progran in which you provide a reward for a successful hire from a referral, this approach is less costly to the organization in comparison to placing a job ad or using a search firm.
Secondly, a good candidate referral program can involve employees in the process of locating talent to strengthen the organization's bench, so to speak. The referring employee also becomes a salesman for the organization in this process.
Lastly, I agree that employees are careful with their candidate referrals because it is a reflection on themselves.
Holli,
I think that referrals are great. I just would not depend on them solely for creating my candidate pool. At least the person making the referral knows the candidate and his/her work habits. They also would have a good sense of that person's organizational fit. Some organizations will even pay a "finder's fee" for a referral if that person is actually hired.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
