A referral may be the closest thing to a “shortcut” in today’s job market, and a new Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey shows just how powerful that endorsement can be. A striking 90% of U.S. hiring managers say employee referrals make hiring more efficient, and 91% say a strong internal reference can open doors that would otherwise stay closed. Yet despite its impact, most job seekers aren’t tapping into it. A referral does more than boost visibility. It fundamentally changes how
A growing majority of Americans say networking no longer feels like relationship building but a thinly veiled transaction — and new survey data shows just how pervasive that discomfort has become. According to a recent Express Employment Professionals–Harris Poll survey, 79% of U.S. hiring managers and 75% of job seekers say networking today feels more like a business transaction than a genuine personal connection. At the same time, 84% of job seekers say networking is primarily about identifying job