The Job Search Sucks…We’ve Got an App for That

Last month, I met Sharon Feingold, creator of the Hire My Friend  application for Facebook. I was struck by not only the “pay it forward” power of this tool, but by Sharon’s entrepreneurial and giving attitude in creating it.  Simply put she had an idea and developed an application for no other reason than to help people find jobs.  How cool is that?  

It goes without saying that I had to talk to her.  Sharon spent a few minutes shedding some light on Hire My Friend, how it came to be and what it does. 

Kevin:  How did you come up with the idea behind Hire My Friend? 

Sharon: As a former healthcare recruiter turned freelance creative in New York City, I often find myself trying to connect people that might be great collaborators. The referral system is how I’ve built my career as a voiceover talent. If it weren’t for countless people assisting me and referring me to others, I would not have been able to build the career I love. 

So from that, I learned how important referrals are as a way to help your career growth – but much more importantly, as a way to help others.  According to my religion, Judaism, finding someone a job is actually the highest form of charity.  

Kevin: That is a great perspective.  One of the things I really like about the application is how it leverages the exceptionally powerful viral effect that social media can have while being entirely selfless.  It’s more advocacy than networking. 

Sharon:  Exactly.  Hire My Friend as an idea for a Facebook application really began to evolve after I co-organized and ran a couple of networking events for young creatives in the entertainment/media industry. At these events last year, the fallout of the recession become so apparent. A large majority of our attendees were out of work – but still grateful to meet people in new circles of influence. We had some great success stories from these events, and people found new positions and collaborators.  

In that same spirit, when I send out a quarterly newsletter to my friends and colleagues, I always include a section called “Shameless Friend Promotion”, where I feature a fellow creative who is either unemployed or freelancing. Then it dawned on me that everyone could do “shameless friend promotions” so easily using Facebook.  A producer always needs a director, a director needs a writer, a writer might need an animator, and so on and so forth. And I realized that each promotion on Facebook would create a new avenue of exposure for someone looking for work, no matter what industry or path they’ve chosen. If 10 friends showcase a friend, and each has 500 friends, the potential is exposure to 5000 friends. But even more – exposure to whoever those 5000 people might know in their own individual networks. Friends like to browse through other friends’ profiles, so if they become accustomed to looking to see who their friend is showcasing, Hire My Friend could become a powerful tool.  

Kevin:  I love it because this is crossover from that fine line of personal and professional networking in a very non-pushy way.  Completely transparent and aimed at “paying it forward,” which social media respond to very well. 

So, tell us, how exactly does “Hire My Friend” work? 

Sharon: The funny thing is, it’s just a very, very simple tool. If you are the one showcasing a friend, once you add the application, it prompts you to select a friend, and write a little bit of information about that friend and the position they are looking for. This then creates a little “profile within a profile” under your list of friends in the column of your profile page, as well as an announcement in your live feed for all of your friends to see. Viewers can see what type of position your friend is looking for, as well as find a link to add them as a friend, send them a message, or view their LiinkedIn profile.  

If you are the one looking for a job, you fill out a form on a different tab asking a friend to showcase you. Facebook sends a notification to that friend letting them know they have a request pending. Once that friend adds the application they can complete the request by writing their personal recommendation and then posting it to their feed and profile. 

Kevin: Thanks again, Sharon, for not only developing this app but taking some time to share both what it does and the muse behind its creation! 

Want to learn more about Hire My Friend and meet its creator Sharon Feingold?  She will be one of my special guests on the free webinar “Using Facebook as Part of Your Job Search Strategy” on Tuesday, February 23^rd at 12:00pm EST.  I hope you will join us…and please share this with anyone you think might be interested!