How Referral Jams Help Us Find Top Tech Talent

At Delivery Hero, we’re always on the hunt for exceptional talent, especially when it comes to tech! Sometimes the best way to find candidates is through our current employees - the amazing Heroes who already work here! That’s where Referral Jams come in.

We talked to Fernando and Oskar from our Talent Acquisition team to find out the latest. 

What is a Referral Jam?

A Referral Jam is a working session where our recruitment and sourcing team sit down with hiring teams to dig into the tricky to fill roles.

We sit down with the hiring team and ask, “Do you know someone incredible who could be great for this role?” says Fernando De la Paz, Senior Talent Sourcer for Tech & Product, he adds: 

“Referral jams are a proactive approach. Through interaction with the participants we can generate new leads (referrals). Referral jams contribute to quality alignment, encourage closer collaboration with hiring teams, connect them to the market challenges (finding and engaging talent), and equip them to dive deep into their networks.

This framework can be used by anyone to populate candidate funnels better.”

The goal? Great hires, and most importantly, keeping the bar raised when it comes to our hiring standards. We’re not just looking for anyone. We’re looking for top talent! Employees always know who the superstars are in their network, whether it be a coding genius, a product visionary, or a design pro. 

Oskar Jan Abrahamczyk, Principal Recruiter for cross functional roles, explains how the team decide on which roles to focus on during these sessions: 

“The idea would be to focus on just one role, an ongoing role. Through referral jam we could boost the pipeline and populate it with referrals. It depends on the role’s complexity, whether it's critical, high-volume, niche, or highly specialized. 

This approach also works well when there are challenges with quality at certain stages. It's also helpful when the hiring manager or team wants to understand the market better or proactively support sourcing efforts.”

What’s in it for our employees?

Aside from the joy of helping us build a stronger, more diverse tech team? We’ve sweetened the deal with a few extras:

• Referral Jam merch: We’re talking hoodies, T-shirts, bags, and stickers for employees who put forward candidates. Merch isn’t just a cool perk, it also helps the team create awareness internally about the program. 
• Referral bonus: Employees receive a bonus once a recommended candidate is hired and passes their probation period.

It’s a win-win-win! Employees help shape the future of our teams, and their connections get a new career opportunity. It also means we get one step closer to building a workplace that reflects the diverse, world-class talent we believe in.

So next time you see an invite for a Referral Jam on your calendar, don’t snooze it. Bring your coffee, your LinkedIn, and your best network insights. Because the next great tech hire? They might already be in your contact list!