so - not discussed on HN then. I was wondering if it might go against HN "ethics" because it risks everyone posting these and then Who's Hiring gets spammed. One of the best things about Who's Hiring is that you get close to the person actually offering the position.
However, I've been doing this for a year now and, so far as I can tell, there hasn't been a significant uptick in comments in these threads. It tends to fluctuate between 700 and 1,000 depending on the month (more in northern hemisphere summer, less in winter).
I'd also add that I spend a bunch of my personal time answering questions, following up and so on. It can sometimes be fun and sometimes it isn't fun at all.
The referral link is new since last month and is exactly equivalent to any other direct application in getting "close to the person actually offering the position". They both go directly to the staff recruiter responsible for handling that job.
For those folk who don't want me to get a referral bonus, for any reason, you can visit https://pivotal.io/careers and go through the same system.
That sounds fair enough. I wasn't complaining - just wondering. And it looks like you're trying to maintain the level of involvement too which is good.
Depends very much on how the company handles referrals. My company gives no bonus for 'networking leads', but decent bonuses for 'personal recommendation'. I've never understood what difference it makes to the company or hiring process.
In the end, the conclusion was: yes. I am allowed. Encouraged, actually.