Why does this require a blog post I though this was obvious to everybody.<p>A recommendation from a friend will outweigh any bullshit a founder will spew at you.<p>Actually selling at that point is counter productive since if you are trying to sell too hard he will get suspicious.
If someone is _solely_ working at company because their friends work there, it can be a fragile engagement. What if one or more of their friends leave, or worse, are fired?<p>(Notice the emphasis on solely; obviously having your friends working at a company is a plus, but should not be your complete basis for working somewhere)
This jibes with an anecdote in "Peopleware". A client staffed new projects by posting them internally where anyone could apply. The authors studied how projects were chosen by applicants, because the client was worried that important (but non-interesting) projects, would not get staffed.<p>Being friends with an existing team member was more predictive of choice than project interest, and for many of the reasons the OP's article cited (job satisfaction and trust)
It's hard to put faith in what someone during an interview is saying. It's a sales pitch on both sides of the table. This guy already had the inside scoop on what "a day in the job" was like and he was already sold.
Hi contactmatts,<p>I am the author of the post. You raise a valid point.<p>Just having your friends work there shouldn't be the only reason, but them working there and being happy is a good proxy for the work and the company.<p>Re: friends leaving, if you review the research in the post, it suggests that like refer like, i.e. your best performers will recommend others at a similar level. It's also symbiotic in that the presence of friends makes them stay longer.<p>Of course nothing is guaranteed. This approach just reduces the odds of disappointment on both sides.<p>Shailesh