Someone else floated this idea a while back. I think creating a marketplace or exchange for referrals misses the point of employee referrals, and devalues refer

Someone else floated this idea a while back. I think creating a marketplace or exchange for referrals misses the point of employee referrals, and devalues referrals in a way that will likely lead to employers eliminating referral preferences (and bonuses) when they discover the system got gamed. Ideally a referral happens when a current employee recommends someone they have worked with before, or have real-world experience with (university, for example). The employer values the referral because in a sense their employee vouches for someone. If the referral degrades into a mere exchange of contact information with the employee possibly getting a referral bonus and the referred candidate no more vetted or vouched for than any other applicant, the employer has no reason to value the referral. Polluting referrals with counterfeits -- to put it bluntly -- will either degrade the value of all referrals, or start an arms race with employers. I can imagine the transactional nature of the referral exposed in the first few minutes of an interview: "How do you know Bob? Have you worked together before?" Interviews already seem miserable enough without adding police-style interrogation and matching up stories to them. LinkedIn already facilitates and incentivizes this kind of thing, through building a network of contacts you don't actually know and can't credibly vouch for. Employers and recruiters give those connections the weight they deserve: none. If your app idea leads to employees and candidates actually meeting with candidates and getting to know them and their abilities and experience, I might see some value in that, but you would launch in an environment full of social media and matchmaking apps that can accomplish the same thing. Personally I have found making the effort to meet people in person, and letting the relationship develop organically, more than sufficient for eventual referrals. In my 40+ years career I have found almost every job and freelance customer by word of mouth (referral), I do no marketing and don't apply for jobs. I understand that people trying to get their first job face a different set of problems.