employee referral

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablebusiness

   A recommendation of a job candidate by someone who already works for the company, often rewarded if the candidate is hired.

   Grammar: Countable: they hired two employee referrals this month.

   Patterns

   • an employee referral for someone
   • through an employee referral

   She got the interview through an employee referral.

   The company pays a bonus for every successful employee referral.

   Employee referrals often fill jobs faster than online ads.

2. 2nouncountable or uncountablebusiness

   A hiring scheme that encourages current staff to suggest candidates.

   Grammar: Often used as a program name: the employee referral program.

   Patterns

   • employee referral program

   Our employee referral program offers $1,000 per hire.

   Management reviewed the employee referral scheme after the first year.

Word forms

Common combinations

employee referral program

The firm launched an employee referral program.

employee referral bonus

He earned an employee referral bonus.

submit an employee referral

Staff can submit an employee referral online.

hire through employee referral

They hire most engineers through employee referral.

Synonyms and how they differ

recommendation

It is general and can be made by anyone, while an employee referral comes from a current staff member.

internal referral

It stresses that the recommendation comes from inside the firm and is nearly identical in meaning.

personal reference

It is a statement about someone's character, not an introduction to a hiring team.

Opposites

Word family

refer verb

to recommend or direct someone

referral noun

the act of recommending someone

employee noun

a person who works for pay

referrer noun

someone who makes a referral

Commonly confused: employee referral or reference?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “employee referral”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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