Employee Referrals Schemes Are Driving Recruitment In Us Tech And Media Jobs

When it comes to landing that dream job in tech or media, it's mostly about what you know. Or at least your potential to learn and develop.

But, as this recent study from Switch on Business shows, who you know can be the real dealbreaker.

Using data collected for Glassdoor, it shows that many of today's biggest media and tech firms hire many of their new staff through employee referral programs.

In other words, having a friend at the company you want to work for gives you a major advantage over all the other applicants.

So which companies make the most of these referral programs? And how much do employees earn for a successful recommendation?

Find out the answer below.

The US tech firm with the highest number of employee referrals

Having the right skills to land a high-paying role at tech-giant Salesforce might get you through the interviewer's door. But if you really want that job, the best thing to have in your favor is a friend or two who already works there.

That's because Salesforce loves hiring people that their staff know, trust, and recommend. According to the data collected by Switch On Business, just over 4 in 10 (41%) of new Salesforce employees come through the company referral scheme. That's the highest referral rate for any tech company included in the study.

The firm incentivizes referrals by offering a $2,000 cash bonus for successful recommendations. Bonuses for referring people for senior roles and executive suite positions can go up to $10,000. Nice.

A report by fortune.com showed that Salesforce has paid out over $5 million in referral bonuses since the scheme started. And while that sounds like an absurd amount, it's actually money well spent. Referred employees tend to be more successful and stay at the company longer, reducing the costly churn rate and lowering other recruitment costs.

To ensure a steady inflow of potential candidates, Salesforce often runs recruitment mingling sessions. Called the "Recruit Happy Hours," these are network events where employees can bring along their friends to meet Salesforce recruiters in a relaxed and friendly environment.

Referring your way into a tech job

Employee referrals are a huge part of many other tech company’s recruitment strategies. And although nobody does it quite like (or as often as) Salesforce, it's now standard practice across the entire industry.

Software provider Nutanix is a big believer in the employee referral recruitment model. Over 30% of its current workforce was recruited by a friend already working there. And getting friends a job at Nutanix can turn into a very lucrative little side hustle. The firm offers a tiered bonus based on the number of referrals. Staff who bring in 5 successful new hires are rewarded with a $6,000 annual bonus.

Software firm Splunk, electronic agreement facilitator DocuSign, and marketing platform provider HubSpot are three more companies that are always asking their staff for referrals. In each case, a quarter of their new hires come through some kind of employee referral scheme.

Then there's Coinbase. The world's first publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange has experienced a massive amount of growth over the last few years. And much of it was driven by employee referrals. The Switch on Business study found that just over 1 in 5 Coinbase employees are referrals. Hopefully, someone there has a friend who can fix the platform's issues during busy periods, which impact user transactions, access, and the ability to sell your coins when the price is pumping. But that's a whole different story.

Using employee referral schemes to break into the media industry

Finding a job in the media industry is notoriously challenging. In fact, it's one of the toughest industries to break into. The industry is highly competitive, with a large number of candidates vying for relatively few positions.

Media jobs often require a unique blend of skills, including creativity, technical proficiency, and strong communication abilities, alongside a deep understanding of the audience and current trends.

Then there's the changing media landscape, including the rise of digital platforms and alternative media sources. This has put a giant strain on traditional media organizations, often leading to job cuts and fewer openings.

However, there are several ways to improve the odds of securing a job in the media. Networking is huge in this industry. And that includes people who already work for major media firms.

BuzzFeed, The New York Times, and even Warner Bros all use employee referral schemes when looking for new hires. At BuzzFeed and The New York Times, 20% of its staff were introduced to the company by a friend through a referral scheme. The figure is slightly lower at Warner Bros., where 18% of staff are referrals. Still, it proves that having friends in the right places will really boost your chances of getting a yes from a media recruiter.

Other major companies on the list published by Switch on Business include Paramount Global (15.03%), Live Nation Entertainment, and Walt Disney (6.2%).

Then there's News Corp, the media firm that owns many of the world's biggest newspapers and content sources. One in 10 people working on News Corps' globally leading media brands were referred to the firm by a current employee.

The US media companies that use employee referral schemes the most

But none of the media companies mentioned above utilize employee referral schemes as much as the Salem Media Group. Operating out of Irvine, Texas, Salem Media Group is a radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher that focuses on discussing and promoting Christian values. It describes itself as a trusted source of "family-themed content with conservative values."

The company likes to hire employees who embrace these values. So it's no surprise that it finds many of its like-minded staff through employee referral schemes. The data shows that 25.89% of the media group’s current employees are classified as referrals.

Activision Blizzard takes a very different approach to entertainment. The video game holding company is renowned for producing gaming franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and the adrenaline-packed first-person shooter Overwatch.

However, the gaming giant has a very similar policy when it comes to recruiting. A quarter (25%) of all its staff came through employee referral programs.

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by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

Google Pulls the Plug on Its Neglected VPN

An unsurprising move from the tech giant Google has made the decisive call to discontinue its Virtual Private Network (VPN) service offered through its One subscriptions. The impetus? A severe dearth of interest from the user base.

The death knell for this VPN arrived subtly, with existing subscribers receiving an unassuming email notification regarding the upcoming change. No hard termination date was specified, but the subtext is clear - this virtual private party is nearing its end.

Rewind to 2020 when Google first launched the One VPN as an exclusive premium perk for its highest-tier subscribers paying hefty $10-plus monthly fees for vast 2TB storage reserves. A belated 2022 bid to democratize the VPN by extending access down to even basic $2 monthly plans did little to ignite broader appeal.

Despite Google's ambitious global rollout spanning 22 countries across iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows platforms, the VPN's promise of secure, anonymous browsing failed to captivate users' imaginations. Put simply, people weren't bothering to use it.

Rather than stubbornly clinging to an evidently unpopular offering, Google pragmatically chose to refocus its resources on features and services that genuinely excite its One subscriber base and earn their engagement.

There's a silver lining for Pixel purists, however. Even as the broader VPN bows out, owners of the Pixel 7 and forthcoming models can rest easy knowing they'll retain access to a native VPN service via their smartphone's settings menu.

Ultimately, Google's strategy realignment stems from a customer-centric drive to elevate offerings that deliver tangible value to its user community – a commendable principle for any business striving to thrive in today's unforgiving digital marketplace.

Hey Readers! Are there better VPN alternatives out there, or will Google's departure leave a void in your online privacy, freedom and security? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media with a mention to our social media profile.

Image: Google

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World

How to Keep Your Digital Footprint Secure After Your Death?

Have you ever wondered what happens to your phone after you die? A US based SellCell has found that 95% of the adults all over the world have left their mobile phones behind after their death. This means that they haven’t just left their phone, but also online accounts and a lot of data. 51 million phones were orphaned just in 2023 and this number is going to increase in coming years as mobile phone usage is increasing each passing day. This means after your death there is a lot of personal data that is left in the digital world.

So what to do to secure your data on your phone after you have passed away? The first thing you should do is make some secure passwords for your email, social media, online banking and other platforms’ accounts and entrust a family member or friend to keep them safe for you. A trusted person is very important when it comes to your password. Tell them how important managing your digital footprint is to you. Tell them the location where you have saved all of your passwords and emails. Get a digital repository where you can store all your personal online information and it will be released to a trusted person after your death.

You should also write out a will stating how you want your digital assets to be handled after your death. You can also hire some professional legal help to write out this will. Appointing a digital executor who can manage your digital assets and online presence after your death is a good choice. He will be responsible for managing your digital footprint after you have left this world. Clearly write the instructions about whether you want some things to be deleted or passed down to a family or friend.

If you know someone who has passed away and left their mobile phones and other digital assets, you may need to consider some things. The first thing you should do is call their loved ones and check any important contact information from that device. Save all their memories and disable their social media accounts. After doing all this, you can give the device to their loved ones, donate it to a charity or resell it. Make sure their digital footprint is secure after they have passed away.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

New Cybercrime Study Identifies Top Nations at Risk, Calls for Targeted Action

After researching for years, a team of researchers have made a World Cybercrime Index which talks about the top hotspots of cybercrime on a national level. The index was published in the journal called PLOS ONE and shows the countries which have the biggest cybercrime threats. Russia is at the top of the list, followed by Ukraine, China, Nigeria, US and Romania. The UK is also one of the countries with the biggest cybercrime threats but it comes at the eighth spot.

Dr. Miranda Bruce who is the co-author of this study says that their research will help the people to identify and locate these threats so that they can end the cybercrime hubs from their roots. This means that organizations will take less interest in implementing measures to be safe from cybercrimes as their hubs will be completely wiped out. Any type of cybercrime, whether profit driven or small scaled will be fought off with the help of the study published by them.

Dr. Bruce also added that they will continue to collect more data on cybercrime hubs. The data will help locate any new cybercrime hubs so authorities can stop them before they get any bigger. It will especially aid countries that are on cybercrime risks as their hubs will be shut down before they get developed.

The data that made the Index was obtained by surveying 92 experts of cybercrimes from all over the world who are directly linked with investigations of cybercriminal activities. These experts were asked questions like writing down five biggest types of cybercrimes and the name of countries that they deem at the biggest risks of cybercrimes according to how dangerous these cybercrimes are.

Another author of the study, Jonathan Lusthaus, says that cybercrime is pretty much a hidden activity where the criminals fake their identities and profiles, hence, they are hard to locate. They hide well but also perform their activities smoothly. Technical data cannot help locate cybercriminals but finding the exact location of their hubs can. Professor Federico Varese, one of the many co-author of the study, says that the World Cybercrime Index is the first step to understand different shades of cybercrimes. As the study will further expand, more facts about cybercrimes will come to surface.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The Price of Internet in America is Increasing with New Jersey Paying the Highest Price

According to a new survey by US World and News Report, the average American internet bill is increasing with $89 per month as compared to $77 that was for broadband a month initially. This means that home internet service is getting more expensive with each passing day. The survey taken in late 2023 asked people about their internet bills, reliability of their internet and their satisfaction in their internet service.

The report says that the price of the internet service is increasing as there is rise in inflation. The respondents of the survey say that when they first started paying for the internet service, the price was just between $20 and $60. But now the prices have increased all of a sudden, instead of increasing slowly. New Jersey is the one that is suffering from this price increase the most. The report talks about how residents in the Garden State have to pay an average of $126 for their broadband service monthly. Montana State has the lowest monthly broadband price which is $70 a month.

The Affordable Connectivity Program that was started in Covid era is in its ending stages and its end is also going to increase internet prices. Congress is not going to renew the program, leaving Americans with high internet prices to pay.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Meta And OpenAI Are Near To Launching Human-Like AI Models With Better Logic And Reasoning

There can be nothing quite like having an AI model that features all the qualities that make you wonder if it was an actual human being working. In fact, most AI models are shunned due to how far they are from behaving like a real human.

But thanks to a new report, that day is not far when such AI tools offer both reasoning and explanation quite like the human mind, giving users an ultimate experience.

The news comes as one executive from OpenAI has gone as far as to reveal how the latest variant of GPT would actually display progress made with harder issues. Similarly, tech experts have issued a new warning on this front in regards to how this type of technology might put humans at risk of becoming extinct.

The study showed how tech giants Meta and OpenAI are at the forefront of the AI race with such rollouts and they are near to completion of a launch of these advanced tools featuring the latest in AI tech.

Not only does this mean a better chance at problem-solving but also the ability of AI to take on greater challenges and more complicated endeavors. So now you don’t have to worry about overburdening the tool or getting a reply that goes beyond its comprehension.

The head of OpenAI spoke to media outlet Financial Times about this matter in detail including how there was great progress made in regards to the newest GPT variant for harder problems involving reasoning.

They claim to be just at the surface of how such tools can begin to reason logically and sensibly.

On the other hand, it’s quite interesting how Facebook’s parent firm is proving that it’s also a force to reckon with in this regard. The models are getting the chance to reason.

A similar plan was rolled out by Meta’s executives for Llama 3 that’s already causing major anticipation for the tech world and its respective experts as its launch comes in just a few weeks.

The VP for AI research mentioned how it’s getting harder and harder to figure out how this tool can talk and even reason while planning and having memory. Reps for both these tech giants are yet to comment on the matter further.

But the fact to emphasize here is that attaining AI models that can reason and provide planning is a major step toward attaining AI on a general level which Meta and OpenAI have been trying to achieve for so long.

Their development is going to be worth a staggering trillions for any firm that manages to attain just this, experts predict and that’s why it’s making major heads turn.

We saw in February of this year how former executives of Meta including VR expert John Carmack, had referred to the world of AGI as a large brass ring. According to him, it was bound to transform into an industry worth billions by the year 2030.

While definitions on this front can vary, it’s best to witness this as a variant of AI that performs better on a human level or does better on an array of different tasks seen in today’s world.

Meanwhile, a few experts have spoken about safety issues linked to the development of tech that goes above and beyond human intelligence. Today, researchers and those dubbed to be AI godfathers are urging the masses to be mindful of the risks to the human race that AI brings toward them.

We also saw tech billionaire Elon Musk who has been skeptical about AI from the start, mention how we might be only two years away from AI overtaking human brains in regards to their competency. He strongly feels that AI thinking and behaving independently would exceed humans in the upcoming five-year period.

So as you can see, the concerns are there and rightly so. There’s a reason why people have been warning about AI for so long and now that there’s evidence about tech giants working to make AI as human-like as possible, we know that it’s no longer just a hypothesis but reality that must be dealt with.

Image: DIW-AIgen

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State of PPC Global Report 2024 Shows the New Trends in Ad Campaigns with AI Becoming the Top Priority for Many Advertisers

State of PPC Global Report 2024 by PPCsurvey talks about concerns about the search market and it was revealed that AI is going to be the top priority for the search market this year. AI has been used in Google ads for quite some time now. First, it was used for keywords, then automatic bidding and now it is being used for placing automotive creatives. The top goal of 72% marketers in 2024 is to achieve large growth and the aim to increase their ad spend efficiently to target ROAS and CPA. Marketers want to reduce their wasted spend, prioritize the safety of consumers and optimize the performance other than the ad accounts. One in five marketers say that they are not able to increase their ad budget so they have to efficiently make the best out of their existing budget.

On the other hand, advertising budgets are increasing and 12 out of 23 campaigns are expecting an increase in their ad budgets on Google Ads and Meta Platforms. 63% of the experts have chosen Google’s Performance Max Campaign for increased budget issuance. Investing in this campaign is expected to generate more profit than any other campaigns under Google and Meta. Despite the adoption of Performance Max Campaign, a lot of marketers cannot reach the requirements needed to achieve the campaign in full form like assets that are needed for YouTube and some other platforms. Google knows about this issue and that’s why it is trying to use Generative AI in the Performance Max Campaign to create assets for the marketers.

Report shows that, over the past year, trust in ad platforms has taken a hit, with LinkedIn being the sole exception, boasting a net positive sentiment. Google, Twitter, and Meta witnessed notable declines in trust percentages at 54%, 51%, and 42% respectively. These platforms encountered hurdles like prioritizing automation over user control, reputation damage, unwanted content proliferation, and general unreliability.

There has also been a change in bidding as marketers are now using automated bidding but manual bidding is also seen. Bidding isn’t used for prominent strategies and is just being used for Target Impressions. A new feature called Demand Gen Feature has also been introduced but it still isn’t as popular as exact match. This is because the exact match feature is much more advantageous for advertisers than the new feature that is mostly being used by advertisers that need to distribute ads other than Google Search.

Many PPC experts admit that campaigning has become harder since the last 2 years, mostly because of practitioners and automated campaigns like Performance Max. The platforms where the ads are used are also being deemed untrustworthy. Only LinkedIn has some positive impressions on advertisers. Google, Twitter and Meta have seen the decline in trust rate.

Overall, the ad spend is expected to increase by 8.2% in 2024 and 50% of this global advertising spend will go to Alphabet (Google, YouTube), Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Amazon, Alibaba and ByteDance (TikTok, Douyin).

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