After a lengthy job search, you may have learned the indispensable principle of hiring—it truly is who you know. Networking with professional contacts is essential for job seekers in any business.
High unemployment has led to a business environment where a larger number of candidates are applying for every open position.
With that in mind, employee referrals are becoming the way recruiters, hiring managers and human resources professionals choose the right candidate for the job.
It is no surprise that confidence in hiring is higher when the prospective employee is recommended by someone already working at the company. This infographic by Jobvite shows the true value of employee referrals—becoming a valuable part of an effective hiring strategy.
Interestingly, on average only seven percent of a company’s applicants come from employee referrals, yet 40 percent of hires are made from them.
Compare that to 21 percent of people from employment site that are hired (and those sites account for 32 percent of applications) while just 15 percent of job board applicants are hired (job boards account for 43 percent of the applicant pool).
Employee referrals offer another benefit—they speed up the hiring process. Consider the average number of days until candidates start work:
- Referrals: 29 days
- Job board: 39 days
- Career site: 55 days
What’s more, employee referrals often stay with the company longer. After three years, nearly half of referrals (47 percent) are still with their company. In contrast, after three years, only 39 percent of career site applicants and 14 percent of job board applicants remain.
The employee referring new people also do well, with 69 percent of companies saying they offer bonuses to employees who make a successful referral.
Infographic after the jump…
Related articles
My Thoughts Exactly 
One thought on “The Value of Employee Referrals [Infographic]”