Knowing the right people is good for them Career and is increasingly also used in the Application important. Because thanks so-called Employee referral programs now the future colleagues are opening up Job Search. It's worth it.

Best of HR – Berufebilder.de®
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No chance without vitamin B?

When I wrote an article for DIE WELT some time ago on the subject of “Job Search via Networking”, the negative comments almost rolled over: It was impossible, that would not be possible, that without nepotism there is no chance of a new job have.

These comments stuck in my mind so vividly because they show how widely differing opinions on this topic are: what is a nightmare for one person appears ideal for another Recruiting-Shape.

What do employee recommendation programs do?

I have come to terms with them in the past Companies who already have this form of recruiting successfully practice. Travelbird for example, or Plista. Your Opinions: In a company, they know Employees know best which future colleagues are human, but also particularly good in terms of specialist knowledge Team fit.

Travelbird, for example, pays a bonus as part of an employee referral program for positions that are difficult to fill, such as in the IT someone is recommended, they get the job – and prove themselves. That sounds logical and actually very reasonable.

Vetternwirtschaft as an integral part of the recruiting?

The exciting thing, however, is that the supposed nepotism is becoming an integral part of the recruiting process - and there is definitely something in the systematic employee recommendation as well Criticism.

Because the Method has its pitfalls, like the management consultant and Best of HR - Berufebilder.de® author Anne M. Schüller explained:

“The true secret of the success of referrals is that they are voluntary. Does the referee learn that Money has flowed, credibility and trust can suffer as a result. You develop reservations and in the end you prefer not to follow the advice, which is not entirely unselfish.”

Study shows: Better opportunities with contacts

However, such recommendation mechanisms have long been an integral part of the application process of many companies, as an evaluation of the job and career platform Glassdoor shows.

Accordingly, the chances of a job offer for Candidate higher if before job interview recommended by an employee of the company. Applications without prior Contact to company representatives or recruiters, on the other hand, is associated with a significantly lower probability of actually receiving a job offer.

440.000 evaluations

In the study, the most frequently identified starting points for discussion talks were identified from the 440.000 evaluations of discussion talks, which workers have shared on Glassdoor.

The second step involved recording how many of the shared job interviews were successful and led to job offers. A linkage of these data using a regression analysis shows that employee recommendations increase the chance of a job offer for applicants statistically significantly by up to 6,6 percent.

15% less chance of acceptance without “friends” in the company

Applicants who have been invited to a job interview via HR intermediary agencies have an average chance of up to 5,3 per cent to get a job offer.

The same applies in the event that jobseekers have been invited to the interview after previous personal contact with company representatives, for example at job fairs:

Here the chance of a job offer increases by up to 3,9 percent. In comparison, the chances of a job offer for applicants before the Conversation have not established personal contact with company representatives or employment agencies, clear lower. They are up to 15 percent less likely to be accepted than the average applicant who shared their interview experience on Glassdoor.

Which employers would recommend employees?

By the way, this can also be done the other way round by recommending the right employers to their friends - of course including a short or long talk about the pros and cons of the employer, so to speak employer branding with a short glass of beer.

At Glasdor, employees can also specify whether they would recommend the employer to their friends. The highest recommendation rate for German employees with at least 25 ratings * is provided by Deutsche Vermögensberatung and Audi.

Top 15 companies according to employee rating

And after Glasdoor, these are the top 15 employers with the highest recommendation rate -
based on Feedback of employees in Germany:

  1. German financial consulting
  2. Audi
  3. UPS
  4. ZF Friedrichshafen
  5. Robert Bosch
  6. BMW
  7. REWE Group
  8. Lidl
  9. Volkswagen
  10. KPMG International
  11. Infineon Technologies
  12. Kaufland
  13. SAP
  14. Continental
  15. Deutsche Bahn