[scarface74]

I concur. My sparse LinkedIn profile shows decades of doing CRUD work for no name companies and I have had recruiters from most of the major tech companies reach out to me. No I couldn’t pass any DS&A tech screen without a lot of preparation.

Even now that I work at one of the Big 5 tech companies, I clearly state that my role is not officially development, I still have recruiters reach out to me from FB for development positions.

[thayne]

There is a big difference between getting recruited and actually getting a job offer.

[scarface74]

The discussion was about the need for referrals. But isn’t that what I just said?

No I couldn’t pass any DS&A tech screen without a lot of preparation.

[oblio]

Yeah, but the discussion was about referrals. Referrals are for getting your foot in the door. You don't generally need them for FAANG. You just need a half decent CV.

The hard part is passing the interviews, but referrals don't help with that, from what I know.

[tolbish]

An actual referral for an "industry rockstar" would catapult them past the first few rounds of interviewing.

[oblio]

And referrals for top management do the same. Why are we talking about something applicable to maybe 0.00001% of candidates out there?

[tolbish]

Because far up the comment tree, referrals were confused with "some recruiter said I should interview for a job".

[scarface74]

There was no “confusion”. The only purpose of a referral is to get the interview. If an internal recruiter reached out to you, a referral isn’t necessary.

Either way you still have to go through the same loop.

Yes, I “work for a FAANG” like many others do here.