How do experienced engineers usually handle referral requests nowadays?
Posted by Ilikeyourmom93@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 45 comments
I’ve been thinking about how referrals work these days, especially in bigger tech companies. It feels like the number of referral requests has gone up a lot. Between LinkedIn messages, random emails, and even mutual connections, it can get a bit overwhelming. I’m curious how people here actually deal with it. Do you respond to people you don’t really know, or do you just ignore those and stick to people you’ve worked with before? Also wondering if your mindset around this has changed over time. Earlier in your career vs now, especially after seeing how hiring decisions are made internally. Would be interesting to hear how others approach this.
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CodelinesNL@reddit
No. When I refer someone I attach my reputation to how well they do. I won't do that for people I simply don't know.
chaitanyathengdi@reddit
Why your reputation? Seems too personal to me.
CodelinesNL@reddit
What do you think a referral is?
chaitanyathengdi@reddit
Too hard to get an interview via the careers page these days.
Referral helps get that leg up.
Empanatacion@reddit
What's the point of a referral if you aren't vouching for their skill?
ecethrowaway01@reddit
Sometimes it's just a matter of access - I can tell you that our volume for recruiting is making it hard to get eyes on potential good candidates.
That said, that type of referral is closer to "I was chatting with X and they seemed like they could be a good fit - here's their resume for visibility"
New-Locksmith-126@reddit
If you recommend something and it sucks, you share the blame.
UntestedMethod@reddit
Why the hell would you ever consider giving a referral to somebody you don't actually know? That's universally stupid man.
fork_yuu@reddit
Some people really care about the referral bonus
znick5@reddit
When the market was better I would refer most people that I had positive experiences with in the past. Now I am being more selective... I have also gotten an uptick in random people I have never met conencting with me and mesaging me for a referral. I completely ignore these. I don't really understand why anyone thinks that would work.
BiebRed@reddit
If you personally experience blowback for a referral that didn't work out, then your company has some of its priorities out of order and isn't willing to hold its HR department or managers accountable for their hiring decisions.
Icy_Cartographer5466@reddit
What do you think a referral is? The whole idea is that you’re vouching for someone, which justifies prioritizing them above other candidates.
znick5@reddit
Well I am usually involved in the hiring decisions, so yes there is potential reputational blowback...
BiebRed@reddit
So you work in HR, or you assist HR for technical screenings? Either way, you should recuse yourself from the hiring process after the referral is submitted, and let other people make the decision. If you referred someone and then you personally conducted their technical assessment that would be a huge conflict of interest and a bad way to do business.
oiimn@reddit
After a certain point in your career most of the jobs you get are based on networking. Have you never seen a director get hired and then a bunch of people this director knows follow suit?
znick5@reddit
HR is involved in your technical screenings? Brother...
Also I have no idea what you are talking about. Conflict of interest?? What conflict? Many hiring decisions happen through personal connections. I get zero benefit from hiring someone that I do not think is a good fit. My interests are aligned with the business...
ReachingForVega@reddit
Its less that and more what if I want a job at that org and my referral burned them after I pumped them up. My field is very small so everyone knows of each other.
CodelinesNL@reddit
That's just how this works. A referral is supposed to mean that the person is referring is a great fit for the role. Not that it's some random ass person that you'd like to get the signing bonus for.
When hiring developers, other developers are generally in the loop when it comes to assessing these people. That's part of the job. Being a poor judge of dev skills, reflects badly on you.
Sufficient-Fee8527@reddit
To be honest, I used to take these requests more seriously before. Back then, I felt like giving someone a referral was just a way to help out, especially if they seemed genuinely interested and had a decent background. But over time, after seeing how much weight some companies put on referrals, I started being more careful.These days, I don’t just look at resumes or profiles anymore. If I haven’t worked with the person or at least had some kind of real interaction with them, I usually don’t go ahead with it. It’s not even about being strict, it just feels like the safer thing to do long term.
SolidDeveloper@reddit
Meh. In my experience, referrals are always a hit and miss. I’ve referred people before and they weren’t even given a courtesy call. I also had people refer me, my former EM referred me at the company he joined and I failed their interview. I never managed to get a job by referral, it was always through cold applications to job ads and through recruiters.
AintNoGodsUpHere@reddit
I often recommend people I trust. The ones I don't I just lie saying I did but I don't have visibility and if it works they'll get an email.
Negative_Term3769@reddit
At the end of the day, it still comes down to trust.No matter what system or platform people try, if there’s no real trust behind it, most experienced engineers will hesitate anyway.
Iampoorghini@reddit
My high school friend who I haven’t seen for 20 years gave me a referral at his company and now I work with him and started hanging out again
ShroomSensei@reddit
> Do you respond to people you don’t really know
Absolutely not there's 0 incentive for me to do so in fact there's a lot of incentive to not do that.
I'll refer someone I know if I've worked with them in some degree and wouldn't mind working with them again. That's about it for 95% of cases so far. I won't go to bat for them technically but hopefully it will get them an interview.
The other 5% is only if I am very actively trying to get someone to join me somewhere and I'll do everything in my power to help that process.
Zestyclose-Use1695@reddit
try using a pomodoro timer to stay focused during reading
HornyPillow@reddit
We have two different type of referrals. One is a direct referral for cases, when you worked with a person and can vouch for them. Second one is just a URL with referral parameters in it. It's usually used, when you want to refer someone you don't know.
I can refer anyone via second option but I use first option really selectively as my reputation is on the line.
First type if referral is paid more than the second one.
Inf3rn0_munkee@reddit
For random people messaging me for a referral, I just tell them to apply on the site, there's not much I can do to help.
For people I know asking for a referral, I do the same but shoot a message to the manager and let them know that I know the person applying and give an honest summary about my experience working with them.
Bingo-heeler@reddit
Referals are one of the only ways to guarantee you get seen nowadays. Otherwise you need to be one of the first 10ish people to submit a keyword targeted resume to pass through ATS Keyword filters.
hey_simmran@reddit
I think the whole referral thing has quietly shifted over the years. It used to feel more like “I know this person, they’re good” but now it’s closer to “am I willing to attach my name to this and deal with the outcome if it goes wrong”. That alone makes people a lot more selective, especially in bigger teams.
OnlyHold6566@reddit
Yeah that kind of system actually makes sense in theory. At least it filters out people who are just mass messaging everyone for referrals. But like you said, the real test is whether people inside companies actually take it seriously or just stick to their usual internal circles.
travishummel@reddit
Blindly refer anyone and everyone without thinking much of it. If I get a referral bonus, all the better.
chikamakaleyley@reddit
do you think you're targeted, if you do work at one of FAANG? Cuz ain't nobody trynna get my referral lol
Careful-Nothing-2432@reddit
I’m not staking my reputation for randos
ConspicuousPineapple@reddit
I always answer positively and help anybody I can. Things are hard enough out there already, I'm not gonna be the last obstacle. If you passed all the interview rounds I say you deserve that chance regardless of past history.
aa-b@reddit
100% I love this and I do the same thing myself. There was one time when an ex-colleague asked for a reference and I felt I had to say no, but that guy was fired from my team and was easily the worst developer I've ever worked with. Never actually gave a negative review, can't imagine when I would.
It's so hard to know what people are going through too, and it can be temporary. I'm sure I was objectively kinda dumb for a while when I had a kid (tired!) and even temporary burnout kills productivity
Ok-Banana1428@reddit
I was in a depression and a dark place when I was at University... When I got myself together for Masters, my thesis advisor refused to give me a referral due to poor academic records, yet another professor gave me one. So, thanks to the second professor, I completed my Masters with great score. Now i'm quite a decent programmer at robotics (i mean managers are happy with me... so). I still pray for the second professor, and thanks to the second professor, I tend to help anyone who is also working to escape darkness engulfing them.
oiimn@reddit
I don’t refer nobody I wouldn’t be comfortable working with
ReachingForVega@reddit
I'd only refer someone I trust with my reputation. I just politely decline.
DAG_AIR@reddit
I only refer people I know personally
Syntactico@reddit
I only give referrals to those I believe are good workers based on working them. I ignore requests from peripheral connections and randoms.
BiebRed@reddit
I will always use whatever clout I have to help a person get their foot in the door past the BS AI screening systems and at least talk to a real person. If any human being in the company involved in the hiring process asks for more of my input, I'll be perfectly honest about whether I would trust a developer with my life or whether they were a third degree acquaintance who was begging for referrals on LinkedIn.
sleepyguy007@reddit
i refer people who worked at previous companies i worked for. even if i didn't directly work with them or know them. i also tend to just help out anyone who went to the same college i did because well thats our alumni network.
drew_eckhardt2@reddit
I generally only refer people I’ve worked with personally and found to be competent. I’d make exceptions for people I know online with writing suggesting engineering competence and first degree connections recommended by people fitting one of those categories.
hdkaoskd@reddit
Any good referral system will ask how highly you recommend them.