Inside Scoop on Employee Referrals

One great way to not feel guilty about bugging your friends and family to help you find work is to check into their company's employee referral program. Find someone inside your ideal company to email the HR department on your behalf with a strong referral. If a current employee writes to their HR contact saying, "Here's someone my neighbor went to college with. I've talked to her and she sounds very intelligent. I'd like to forward her résumé," they're much more likely to take a look at an unsolicited résumé.

Why do internal referrals work? Companies want to maintain good relations with current employees. Even if the résumé doesn't look so hot, the HR department may touch base with the candidate simply out of courtesy. Sometimes in the course of the conversation the candidate will say something to make the HR rep take a second look. It helps if the recommendation comes from a senior-level employee, but even an assistant's referral will get attention.

Many large companies offer financial incentives for referrals that lead to successful hires. But even if the employee doesn't end up with money through their firm's employee referral program, the real motivation is to get other great co-workers in the door!