

Ask HN: What to do when friends of friends seek "hookups" for jobs at my org? - sumeetjain

Social networks have made it easy for people whom I don't know to find out that I work at a well-known design agency. Friends of Facebook friends, connections of LinkedIn connections, and other distant acquaintances occasionally contact me to help them avoid having their resume lost in the shuffle.<p>I don't mind helping very close friends or other people I would feel comfortable vouching for. But I do mind advancing someone's resume if I've only met them once and/or they weren't particularly impressive.<p>It'd be nice to say, "Sure, here's the email of our HR guy. Good luck." - but people will always start the email to the HR guy with, "I'm a friend of [My Name], and he told me to send you my resume for the so-and-so position." I want to avoid this implied endorsement, because my professional reputation suffers when sub-par applicants don't get the job.<p>I also don't want to have to tell people not to use my name, because it comes off as rude or unwilling to help.<p>Maybe I'm hoping for too perfect a solution or trying to avoid the natural complexities of human interaction. If so, I can make a decision and deal with the consequences. But I wanted to check if anyone here has experience or advice in handling situations like this.<p>Thanks.
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metaforth
I was in the same situation recently. I asked the person to send me his
resume. I forwarded it to the HR recruiter so I could honestly tell this
person I had forwarded his resume. At the same time I added a caveat to the
recruiter that I was not familiar with this person or his work and that based
on the resume he did not look particularly impressive.

~~~
kls
I would second this one, but I would just let the HR guy know they are a
friend of a friend and you cannot vouch for them. No more no less. You are
helping, you are getting to the right person but you are not putting your name
on the line, they cannot ask for more than that.

Networks exist to help one another out, while friends may not be as discerning
in their selection they do share a common bond of a mutual friend. You may one
day call on your network for help whether it be work or personal life related
and I assume you would be pleased if a person in your distant network gave you
the opportunity to stand on your own in front of the decision maker. That
little advantage can at some times make the difference. But still you are
standing on your own accord asking them to extend their credibility without
intimately knowing you would be wrong on their part so your should not be
expected to do it in your instance.

Now if they have over the top personality flaws like being overbearing, I
personal would not want to even make the connection.

~~~
sumeetjain
Thanks to everyone for their advice. Upvotes to everyone for taking the time
to respond.

I like kls's approach, as it doesn't require me to explain a personal
methodology for referring candidates to my HR department (as notaddicted's
suggestion would have me do).

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ecyrb
To avoid the "I'm a friend of [x] ..." email, I always say:

"Send me your resume, and I will make sure it gets to the right person."

I won't actually forward the resume on, but I usually look at the resume for
curiosity - and if it's a friend I might send them a few pointers on how they
could improve their resume. Pick the "Don't eat where you shit", "Don't mix
business and pleasure", or whatever cliche you prefer.

Are you lying when you do this? Maybe. If they're not a good candidate, you
might as well be the "right person" to discard their resume.

Alternatively, you could say something like:

"I had a bad experience recommending a friend, so I make it a personal rule
that I don't do it anymore."

(I would probably make an exception for exceptional people.)

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notaddicted
As a quick fix you could chat with the HR guy and let him know that when you
want to vouch for someone you will do so directly. Also ask for a $reward if
they hire someone you recommend!

