Refersense

Ask references, build reputation, get hired!

2 followers

Ask references, build reputation, get hired!

2 followers

Having references is critical - whether it is for a job, or university admissions or even finalizing a tenancy. ReferSense makes it easy (and free!) for everyone to build a Reputation profile by asking References and endorsements. Based on your strengths gathered from the feedback, our AI technology matches you with employer job postings.

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Refersense

Maker

👋 Hi PH, Most of us have needed references when we were job-hunting or applying to universities. Trying to get a reference for that job from 3 years ago can be difficult. Sometimes, past employers leave, sometimes they have forgotten you (blimey!) or sometimes the love has faded a bit with the passage of time. The best time to get a good Reference is right after you finish that project or when you are leaving your job. 🛠 Solution To meet this need, we have launched Refersense. You can get a confidential reference whenever you can. The reference is, like a letter in a sealed envelope, with restricted visibility only to the intended recipient. You can then pass onto your future employer / client / professor / landlord whenever you need to. In short, get a Reference when you can, use when you need. 🎁 Features: - References can be given in confidence - References can be used multiple times, as and when needed. - 5-point Feedback taken on skills and your competency profile built based on the feedback given - Consolidated Reputation Score computed based on strength of References - Make your reputation work for you. Employers can contact you with offers based on your availability, Reputation Score and your skills feedback from your References. - Import your Reputation from external sources like Github, Dribbble, Behance etc - Get endorsements for key highlights of your work experience - For e.g. awards, Key wins, Projects completed etc 🙏 Let me know what do you think. How can we make it more useful for you (either as an employer or as a job-seeker)? Disclaimer: We use LinkedIn as a mechanism to authenticate and validate users who sign in. We are not affiliated with LinkedIn in anyway beyond using their oAuth mechanism

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8yr ago

@ibmadhukar Will my future employer only see the Reference, or will I be able to see what kind of Reference was given for me?

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8yr ago

Refersense

Maker

@ramesh_radhakrishnan To ensure references are confidential and impartial, the person who is getting the reference cannot see his/her own reference (just like in the offline way, you cannot know what your reference said in a telephone chat). But you can share it with any future employer who can then see the reference. However, you can see the aggregate overall meta-stats about your references such as your average ratings on different skillsets etc This is also one of the biggest difference as compared to the LinkedIn recommendations where everything is public and optional (and hence the person giving the recommendation is forced to be glowingly cloy whereas in our approach you can be honest and straight-talking). In a way we have tried to replicate the referencing model that happens in the academia world which has been fairly successful.

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8yr ago

@ramesh_radhakrishnan Fun idea, here is my five cents: Plenty of recruiters have their own solutions that they try to market, apply via video etc thus it is less likely they would like to promote a third party (unless they have a massive upside). Plenty of recruiters receive far more applications than they would ever bother to read and tend to only accept applicants from certain universities (for junior roles) or with experience from certain firms (for experienced roles). Then they may check the Linkedin profile briefly depending on the requirements for the recruitment simply to see if there is an overall fit before deciding to forward tests/interview the candidate or both. They are typically not interested in investing additional time checking references etc unless the candidate moves forward. Thus the service is most likely relevant for you as a candidate only if you are specifically asked for references (typically in the very end of a recruitment process). Typically you may be asked for one or two references that the recruiter may call. Typically you would contact your reference and share the job description so that they may highlight the corresponding strengths you have. In this case, the static reference may be less useful for you as an applicant, in particular as you cannot see if it is relevant to the job you are applying for... Above is based on my interactions with Swedish headhunters, hr managers, recruitment agencies and recruiting/hiring members to my team.

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8yr ago

Refersense

Maker

@ramesh_radhakrishnan @jonathan_danemo Thanks Jonathan. Great feedback. You are absolutely right about the references being the last stage of the recruitment game. Which is precisely the fundamental aspect we want to change about hiring. Basically, the current problem statement is that there is a lack of trust between what a person says in a resume versus the reality when it comes to recruiters. So what we have done in refersense is created this concept of a 'Trusted Profile'. Essentially, it is validation of different sections of a resume by your references. That ensures that recruiters get to see (and shortlist) profiles that have been validated (rather than wasting their sparse time on unvalidated profiles). This is an article that i recently published around how the hiring process needs to be inverted to make it more efficient and less wasteful. https://medium.com/refersense/co...

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8yr ago

@ibmadhukar it is an interesting concept. Personally I have found it hard to change the process of people trying to make them adjust to a new workflow being particularly hard. A trusted profile sounds great but unless there is some type of validation process it will be as secure as a reference on Linkedin(except lacking the brand recognition of Linkedin). My suggestion (which you might have already done) is to speak with a lot of recruiters to see what they experience as the major pain points today and what makes them gravitate to certain platforms. The idea is really neat and it will be interesting to follow where you take it :) Best of luck /JD

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8yr ago

The product has huge potential and can disrupt the market.

Pros:

Ease of capturing the references and sharing it securely each time they change the job are great benefits for contractors.

Cons:

I don’t see any equivalent product in the market and hence the need to educate the market on the benefits would be required

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8yr ago

Refersense

Maker

Thanks shoney! Loved the feedback.

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8yr ago

No-Code Tees by Maker Threads

Agreed! I've never seen a platform in this market provide such valuable insights. Would be awesome to integrate some form of NLP to register what common keywords are used, and what their sentiment and emotional values are.

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8yr ago

please stand by

Pros:

Great way to get a job by matching references

Cons:

Will know once I have used it for a few days.

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8yr ago

Refersense

Maker

Thanks ramesh. Do let me know about your experience with the site.