Job referral as a recipe for success
E-referrals are now a reality on the Canadian web. The new site bohire.com features a cash referral system, a first in this country. Employers publish their ads on the site free of charge, and members of the Bohire Referral Community refer the job to those of their friends likely to be interested. If the friend is hired, the referrer gets a cash referral reward freely set by the employer. To quickly build a referral community, Bohire also asks referrers to invite their friends to become referrers and in turn earn 2% of the reward for all hires made via their network. Bohire currently has just over 1,200 registered referrers.
A Canadian first? Alberta-based site bountyjobs.com had already applied this model to headhunters, but Bohire is the first to use it for the general public. A number of sites in Europe and the U.S. have already tried cash referral systems. In France, Jobmeeters and Cooptin received a lot of media coverage but did not enjoy commercial success. They were able to find an alternative vocation, however, by offering their platform to businesses to formalize internal referrals.
In the U.S., Jobster, founded in 2005, appealed to investors and succeeded in raising $30 million in its first year. Referrals are still central to the company’s strategy, with the slight difference that job openings are not posted but are sent directly to target candidates or to referrers for sending to potential hires. This ensures that only referred candidates can apply. Recruiters manage their recruiting from an ASP-based platform.
Jobster, jobmeeters, bountyjobs and now bohire are relying on the legendary word-of-mouth effect. Will the lure of money convince referrers? Could the virtual formula replace informal relationships? The above sites are convinced of it, and are announcing the new generation of job sites. But this status is already strongly coveted by social networking sites. LinkedIn or Jobster? It’s up to the candidates…