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Show HN: Jobs by Referral: Find jobs in your LinkedIn network

172 points by nicksergeant 3 days ago | 63 comments

I have some friends who were laid off and are on the job hunt. We were all quite surprised to learn that LinkedIn does not have a "view jobs only at companies where I have connections", so I built https://jobsbyreferral.com/

It's powered by https://rapidapi.com/letscrape-6bRBa3QguO5/api/jsearch, which is a little pricey, so I'm trying to decide whether to put more effort into the project (I'd have to charge _something_ to offset the costs).

gergely 3 days ago

But it is there: If you search for jobs and expose "All filters" there is a filter called "In your network" which filters down exactly to this.

giancarlostoro 3 days ago

Do you pay for LinkedIn Premium or something?

zamadatix 3 days ago

I do not and the filter is available in the job search page for me as well.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Really?! I still cannot find this in the mobile app or desktop :lolsob:

98codes 3 days ago

It's there -- go to the jobs tab, answer the first time questions if they come up, and when you get the job list, click All Filters, and scroll the filter list down (admittedly, pretty far down); there's an "In your network" toggle.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Ah, wild! Yes I see it now! That is really quite buried.

Edit: seems like this is only the "Classic Search", and presumably may disappear once "AI search" is no longer optional?

citizenpaul 3 days ago

I still can't find this. The job list is "infinite scroll" for me so there is no bottom. I don't see the word filter anywhere. Is there a URL?

iLoveOncall 3 days ago

You need to switch back to classic search to see those filters (on mobile at least).

kjkjadksj 3 days ago

Use the old search

citizenpaul 3 days ago

Whats the old search URL?

kjkjadksj 24 hours ago

Not sure but if it asks you to go back to the old search, click that button. Then in the additional flags menu you will find this in your network toggle.

hackernewds 3 days ago

Perfect feature that LinkedIn should've developed themselves. Thank you for this!

pmdr 3 days ago

LinkedIn doesn't want you working, 'cause working people don't really have time to waste on LinkedIn (unless that's their job). LinkedIn wants you on their app with a racing heartbeat every time you get a notification that you hope will lead to job.

1970-01-01 3 days ago

Caveat: I know people that don't use LinkedIn, but will "keep a profile" for reputational reasons.

Aurornis 3 days ago

Keeping a profile is how the majority of people use LinkedIn.

All of the timeline discussion stuff is a small minority of their users. You can completely ignore it, as most do.

radarsat1 3 days ago

You mean you know.. most people?

floutist44 2 days ago

This feature already exists and has existed for many years. In the new “AI search” they are testing, just type “in my network” at the end of your search query or something similar and you’ll get the same set of companies being filtered.

nicksergeant 2 days ago

The new AI search restricts results to a specific location - you can't search for "remote", for example. So "frontend in my network" returns 5 results, whereas the old Classic Search with the "In My Network" toggle returns 392 results.

FWIW, I didn't know the current search was a new "AI search" and that the "classic search" still provides this functionality, when I built this :)

thih9 3 days ago

What happens with the personal data that gets uploaded? Is the payload stored or used for any other purposes? Is there a privacy policy?

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Hi! I answered this in a few comments but:

The app performs its functions entirely client-side except for the job search to JSearch, which only requires the company name.

> What you choose to upload to JobsByReferral.com is entirely up to you - you don't need to upload the entire ZIP. You can upload the Connections.csv-formatted file after you review it. You could also obfuscate person names if you'd like, before uploading.

> We also do nothing with your data. You can verify the app does not send your data to any backend endpoints _except_ for company name (so that we can find jobs at that company).

Edit: we've added some privacy details here: https://jobsbyreferral.com/privacy

b8 3 days ago

There's sites where you can pay for referrals or ask for them for free on Blind though. Most people accept randos on LinkedIn, so unsure how many refer you. The only people who've referred me on Linkedin are my previous co-workers.

Aurornis 2 days ago

Referral processes now ask how you know the person and why you’re referring them.

Referring randos to be nice isn’t a thing any more at any company that has been paying attention.

b8 2 days ago

And people who do it for money will copy and paste whatever they want in there. I had strong friend referrals and got rejected anyway at Tesla and Amazon.

AznHisoka 3 days ago

More people have done this over the years that some companies have started ignoring them. Because they’re just as much noise as regular applicants

Fuzzy1000 3 days ago

The next best thing would be to have an overlay that allows you to pinpoint where and how you made a connection

orliesaurus 3 days ago

Remember Blind? This is like Blind+++

dijit 3 days ago

I really want the inverse of this.

I even wrote a version of it, but like many side projects; I lost motivation after leaving the original company I was working at (where I was integrating with things).

I really want a way of recommending people you've worked with previously; should they happen to apply to your current workplace.

I've worked with some absolute stars and would gladly work with them again.

My original design (that I even got working) had two ways of "recommending" people, essentially you had either: select people from your linkedin network or add an email address/phone number and name you know them by.

Then after selecting a person you're asked how closely you worked with them; becuase sometimes it's a nice person but you can't speak to competence: sometimes, it's someone you were really in the trenches with and they had your back.

I also design the opposite of this, where you would "un"-recommend people, or essentially downflag their application.

The thing is, my system wasn't fully integrated in the the HR management system, so it would add a comment if someone applied with the correct details but recruiters didn't have access to the database of recommended people- it also had an issue where someone could impersonate someone else by pasting the same linkedin link - though then they might need to know who might be recommended.

Anyway, nothing foolproof, just making it easier for people with a good reputation to be integrated into the company easier.

willsmith72 3 days ago

i totally agree on the problem, ex-colleages can be one of the best datasources for predicting the quality of a hire

but how is your solution better/different to a referral, other than the un-recommendations? (which i like the idea of but am weary of ethically)

dijit 3 days ago

Mostly due to it's automated nature.

I wouldn't go out of my way to tell our internal recruiters about every person I might enjoy working with again; additionally I don't necessarily think they'd care to chase someone down - especially so if there's not a currently open position.

I'm also normally not directly plugged in to HR's candidate management system as an IC, unless someone is escalated; at which point then I might give a referral.

The value of such a solution is that people can just quietly plug away recommendations when they first join and forget about them until that person happens to apply later on, at which point their notice is not just noise.. it becomes a signal on an emerging opportunity. One that might not have otherwise been there.

Bonus; if recommendations are tagged with the user who made them, HR could reach out for additional context on the candidate.

shados 3 days ago

It really shows how AI is going to change the entire industry.

Let's imagine tomorrow a Product Manager at LinkedIn wants to introduce this as an official functionality? They're going to have to run it by management or their pod (or find the PM in charge of that area if its not them), finish existing project, wait for resources to be ready, have legal/marketing/compliance involved, get it developed, go through all the other red tape, etc.

I don't know exactly how LinkedIn works internally, but I'm sure some of this is accurate.

So maybe, MAYBE they'll have it in a couple of months? But someone can build it in a few hours, even if they're not super good at this stuff.

It changes everything about how we think about products and SaaS software.

thih9 3 days ago

> But someone can build it in a few hours, even if they're not super good at this stuff.

Note that the end result is not the same as what LinkedIn would have built. Perhaps in some ways better and in some ways worse.

E.g. personally I am not comfortable bulk uploading personal data of myself and my network to a third party server.

shados 3 days ago

Yup. But my point is you can build this yourself, FOR yourself. So if you're not comfortable with using this one, you can build one on your own that you can trust (because you built it yourself).

Thats the whole point. In an AI world, you're no longer bound by the limits of what 3rd parties do or don't do, plus or minus some datasets (like in this case, the job postings).

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Yep! I agree to the principle - I also would not trust a random third-party app with my personal details. Though as noted in my other comment, this app is mostly client-side (including the CSV and ZIP extraction), except of course for the JSearch calls to find jobs by company name, and the CSV export if you choose to use that.

dotancohen 2 days ago

  > personally I am not comfortable bulk uploading personal data of myself and my network to a third party server.
The subject of this show HN is completely client-side.

deadbabe 3 days ago

It changes nothing, what you describe has always been the case even before AI. There are things people can build in a weekend that take weeks or even months at a larger company. Large companies have a way of slowing everything down, for reasons that have nothing to do with coding.

shados 3 days ago

Correct, but the amount of people who can do it has drastically increased, and the amount of time it takes for most people to build these things has drastically decreased.

deadbabe 3 days ago

It has not drastically increased. One could even argue it has decreased. Ultimately, the productivity gains will perish to bureaucracy.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

This is exactly where I think we're heading as well. This project took about 2 hours.

98codes 3 days ago

Primarily because LinkedIn has to bother with complying with their privacy policies and other T&Cs, and your site has none of that.

Why should I take all of my data and give it to you, a rando on the internet? Is it being stored? Will it be shared? Sold? Maybe, as there's nothing that says you won't.

Looks neat, but strong pass because of the above.

shados 3 days ago

Correct. But you can build this thing on your own, for yourself. LinkedIn didn't, and you don't trust this third party. So if you had the problem its trying to solve, you could just spend the 2-3 hours and build it for yourself, even if you don't have all the necessary skills to do so.

That's the whole point.

dotancohen 2 days ago

And in the process you develop another skill you can add to your LinkedIn profile.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Those are totally fair points but what I agreed with here was that people will create _personal_ software to solve a particular itch for themselves, which is what I did here for my friends. I just decided to throw it on HN as I have some API credits remaining :)

floutist44 2 days ago

This feature already exists and has existed for like 10 years (I know because I built the original implementation of it)

alexp2021 3 days ago

Not sure it changes EVERYTHING as the issue of sales and marketing still favours LinkedIn. Sales/Marketing is very expensive and sometimes even difficult to predict. Building is not everything.

shados 3 days ago

Right, the point Im trying to make is that if someone has a requirement, they can build it on their own, for themselves, at much lower cost (because they don't need sales and marketing for themselves).

It was always possible (hire software devs to do it), but the bar and cost is much, MUCH lower.

alexp2021 3 days ago

Sure, no doubt about it.

bsoles 3 days ago

I've read the instructions steps as:

1. Download your entire LinkedIn data.

2. Give us your entire LinkedIn data.

The "larger" data they are asking for includes "... connections, verifications, contacts, account history, and information we infer about you based on your profile and activity ..."

nicksergeant 3 days ago

We've added some privacy details here: https://jobsbyreferral.com/privacy.

You absolutely do not need to upload all of your data. Just a CSV in the format we need (which is now updated on the homepage as well).

JoeDohn 3 days ago

[flagged]

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Honest question: for what? The data you export from LinkedIn is yours. From their "Download my data" section:

> Download my data > Your LinkedIn data belongs to you, and you can download an archive any time or view the rich media you have uploaded.

What you choose to upload to JobsByReferral.com is entirely up to you - you don't need to upload the entire ZIP. You can upload the Connections.csv-formatted file after you review it. You could also obfuscate person names if you'd like, before uploading.

We also do nothing with your data. You can verify the app does not send your data to any backend endpoints _except_ for company name (so that we can find jobs at that company).

JoeDohn 2 days ago

I am not calling for it nor wishing for it, but they will argue the 'data usage bypass' that leads to a loss for them (instead 'clicking'/'viewing' jobs on sh*t linkedin website, users are using JobsByReferral).

But I guess they won't come to you right away, if you get some traction than you bet they will (even if from legal point of view it's not a clear path for a win)

nicksergeant 2 days ago

Anyone can threaten legal action for anything, so you're not wrong, but JSearch also returns LinkedIn jobs so the traffic is headed right back to them anyway.

toyg 3 days ago

The feature is interesting and I'm sure you're in good faith, but you're effectively doing LinkedIn-scraping, just outsourced to your users. Why not use the official API?

(The GDPR implications of this service are also significant. Being in the US does not exempt you from observing that if any of your records are from European users.)

nicksergeant 3 days ago

LinkedIn's API is pretty locked down to partners, which you must apply for. There's also no documented API to retrieve connections.

The approach we've taken here is that you upload data that you're comfortable uploading. You don't have to upload your entire LinkedIn ZIP archive -- you can just upload the Connections.csv file (which you can review before you upload).

shados 3 days ago

Assuming they don't have an EU presence of some sort, EU law doesn't apply to them.

Now if they want to open up shop in the EU, or use a payment processor to charge money that has EU presence, things change.

toyg 3 days ago

> Assuming they don't have an EU presence of some sort, EU law doesn't apply to them.

That's not correct. If they handle EU people's data, they are responsible for it and can still be fined. Obviously this cannot be enforced if they never visit and have no assets in the EU.

shados 3 days ago

Its correct purely because of jurisdiction. EU laws don't apply for people with no presence in the EU, unless there was some kind of treaty where one country agrees to enforce another's.

That's just how laws, any law, works. The EU can "fine" all they want but it would be entirely symbolic.

That's like if US restaurants had to enforce EU food safety laws when on US soil because a EU citizen is eating there.

Fortunatelly, unlike US laws, GDPR, by virtue of being EU law, is actually readable by normal human beings, so its fairly straightforward:

https://gdpr.eu/article-3-requirements-of-handling-personal-...

toyg 3 days ago

Yes, and "the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the Union" absolutely applies to examining activity of LinkedIn users from the EU.

As for jurisdiction in general: the US routinely jails people for activities that took place outside the US, as soon as they set foot on US soil - occasionally even when they don't even do that (Kim Dotcom). European convictions for civil matters will not result in an arrest warrant, but can result in financial penalties and confiscations applied to anything that has to go through Europe in one way or the other.

The limits of enforcement, in the internet era, are becoming mostly practical rather than theoretical. Which is interesting and poses a number of new, unanswered questions. Simply speaking, one cannot just wave away any law simply because they don't live in this or that place anymore.

shados 3 days ago

Yup, but Article 3 point 2.a has a fairly strict definition, where for an entity outside of the US to be considered as "offering service" to EU members requires some kind of strict ties. The de facto examples is offering a product by specifically mentioning payment in Euro, or having presence on an domain with a top level TLD of a member state. If there's no ties that shows the offering is made to EU members, it doesn't apply.

Very very little tie is required (eg: just having one employee in the EU in a 50,000 people org would do it right there), but the law has been fairly consistently interpreted as such.

I get where you're coming from, but this isn't a if or but or theoretical. Its just how GDPR gets applied. I probably confused things by trying to introduce poor analogies, when the law itself is fairly clearly interpreted a specific way.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Answering your GDPR question: we use cookie-less analytics with https://usefathom.com/ and we do not pass user data to the backend endpoints, which you can verify by viewing the network calls. When you upload the ZIP or CSV the extraction/parsing happens entirely client-side, and then we use auto-generated IDs to map connection data from the JSearch API response to the client-side stored connection data.

toyg 3 days ago

That's good, you might want to write that somewhere - even just to assuage people's worries in general.

nicksergeant 3 days ago

Yep, done at https://jobsbyreferral.com/privacy.