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Didn't work so well for us. My boss ended up hiring someone a team-member recommended off of LinkedIn. The new guy pretty much ended up making the team go bust

Didn't work so well for us. My boss ended up hiring someone a team-member recommended off of LinkedIn. The new guy pretty much ended up making the team go bust because of stuff he did with clients. I later enquired with the guy who recommended him if he even knew the guy. Turns out, he was just an arbitrary LinkedIn connection with equally arbitrary recommendations. Sucked big time. My advice: figure out how well the team member knows the new guy before you decide. Also check if the guy doing the recommendation is doing it because of religion, language, or some other crap. Also, I don't hire team members' wives or boyfriends any more.

megrimlock 16y ago
Yes. The majority of "recommendations" we receive were provided as a polite favor to someone's former co-worker, relative, neighbor, etc. These are rarely better than random applicants, perhaps because they trying to exploit social connections rather than relying on the strength of their work. It's important to sniff out these obligatory "Sure, I'll pass your resume on" recommendations from truly vouched-for "We must hire this person" statements that can be truly valuable. Also, be wary of recommendations from people who work in a different part of your company. They may think they understand what you do when they don't, and use up your time with unqualified recommendations. Learning how to politely decline can save a bunch of time.
lsc 16y ago
"My advice: figure out how well the team member knows the new guy before you decide. Also check if the guy doing the recommendation is doing it because of religion, language, or some other crap. " seems like good advice to me. My "Best hire ever" was the roommate of someone who worked for me at the time, and, as usual I kinda eased into the relationship, with short and well-defined contract gigs at first. But yeah, it is important to know the motivation of the recommending employee, and to do some evaluation of your own. But in my experience, it's a pretty good place to start.
ajju 16y ago
I think this lays bare the difference between a "LinkedIn recommendation" and an in person recommendation. I have only hired though recommendations from great employees so far (and never regretted it). But I always ask people multiple questions to make sure the employee really knows the person being recommended well. "Is he/she really good? What is he/she good at? What is their favorite language?"

megrimlock 16y ago

Yes. The majority of "recommendations" we receive were provided as a polite favor to someone's former co-worker, relative, neighbor, etc. These are rarely better than random applicants, perhaps because they trying to exploit social connections rather than relying on the strength of their work. It's important to sniff out these obligatory "Sure, I'll pass your resume on" recommendations from truly vouched-for "We must hire this person" statements that can be truly valuable. Also, be wary of recommendations from people who work in a different part of your company. They may think they understand what you do when they don't, and use up your time with unqualified recommendations. Learning how to politely decline can save a bunch of time.

lsc 16y ago

"My advice: figure out how well the team member knows the new guy before you decide. Also check if the guy doing the recommendation is doing it because of religion, language, or some other crap. " seems like good advice to me. My "Best hire ever" was the roommate of someone who worked for me at the time, and, as usual I kinda eased into the relationship, with short and well-defined contract gigs at first. But yeah, it is important to know the motivation of the recommending employee, and to do some evaluation of your own. But in my experience, it's a pretty good place to start.

ajju 16y ago

I think this lays bare the difference between a "LinkedIn recommendation" and an in person recommendation. I have only hired though recommendations from great employees so far (and never regretted it). But I always ask people multiple questions to make sure the employee really knows the person being recommended well. "Is he/she really good? What is he/she good at? What is their favorite language?"