Hired By Me - Alternative To The 2 Reference Issue

[jmo21]

this post showed up on LinkedIn today, which led me to rediscover this thread
https://www.linkedin.com/hp/update/6270898924542787584

Nothing to gloat about, but maybe one to reference next time someone posts one of these "cut out the agent" business ideas

[Simon HiredByMe]

I get what they are trying to do, and the crux of it appears to be that the reference is anonymous, however....

How can the client really trust it? It seems to imply that because it is anonymous they will definitely get a true reference. I'm not convinced by that.

I'm also not convinced that despite the anonymity, the reference giver will give something other than a bland, non-commital "safe" reference .

Presumably it is up to the contractor to initiate these references as well, so it's not like for a new application, the client would say to the agent, get your applicants to have a bunch of people review them. It would take too long.

And if the contractor receives a bad reference, do they get to choose whether it is displayed or not?

If so, why would the contractor want to use this site. If not, why would a client trust this site.

Ahm oot!

Hi - and apologies for the thread resurrection. I'm Simon, one of the founders of HiredByMe and I thought it might be helpful to comment on this. Thanks to Jmo21 for the post.

A few things to clear up:
- because of the way that we take the assessment data it's both (a) very quick (about 90 seconds to complete) and (b) shows useful feedback. Essentially, rather than a waffly prose based reference we get your assessor to rate the skills which you used on that assignment

- you (the contractor) are always in control of the data. You only publish the feedback if you're comfortable with it (although we always show the _status_ of your feedback - so if you've received feedback but not published it people can see that on your profile. There might be reasons for this other than you didn't like it)

- our clients (recruitment agents and end-clients) do seem to find the data useful in the recruitment process - helping them find the best-fit candidates more quickly and reliably (yes, I would say that, obviously). But a few of them are starting to make it a requirement which I think shows the value they see.

If forum members have other questions I'd be happy to answer if that's helpful.

Simon

[northernladuk]

I think Sal is off his/her medications this morning.

[TheFaQQer]

Nice idea, but good luck making the agencies and the Clients trust it.

The best and simplest solution to the 2 references problem is to cut out the leeches completely and get the clients to contract directly using their HR departments for a change.

Why would HR be involved in a procurement process?

[sal]

Nice idea, but good luck making the agencies and the Clients trust it.

The best and simplest solution to the 2 references problem is to cut out the leeches completely and get the clients to contract directly using their HR departments for a change.

[TheFaQQer]

Does that mean anything though? From what I have seen anyone can be an affiliate as long as you have been established 12 months

I can't comment on how one becomes an affiliate, sorry.

But there is something extra you get as an IPSE member, according to the website.

[SimonMac]

I've not used it, but if you are an IPSE member then you get priority access (not sure what that means, either)

They are an IPSE Affiliate.

Does that mean anything though? From what I have seen anyone can be an affiliate as long as you have been established 12 months

[northernladuk]

Why is 2 references a problem?

[jmo21]

I get what they are trying to do, and the crux of it appears to be that the reference is anonymous, however....

How can the client really trust it? It seems to imply that because it is anonymous they will definitely get a true reference. I'm not convinced by that.

I'm also not convinced that despite the anonymity, the reference giver will give something other than a bland, non-commital "safe" reference .

Presumably it is up to the contractor to initiate these references as well, so it's not like for a new application, the client would say to the agent, get your applicants to have a bunch of people review them. It would take too long.

And if the contractor receives a bad reference, do they get to choose whether it is displayed or not?

If so, why would the contractor want to use this site. If not, why would a client trust this site.

Ahm oot!

[TheFaQQer]

I've not used it, but if you are an IPSE member then you get priority access (not sure what that means, either)

They are an IPSE Affiliate.

[Hoppy]

Just came across these guys

HiredByMe

Just wondering if anyone has come across them or have any thoughts on this as an alternative to the 2 reference problem.