You are not an indepedent, nor are you an employer – or the hiring manager! – but you have heard about an opportunity for an indie, and you can pass on the referral. Here’s how it works for you.
I can get paid for a referral?!
Oh yes! Full time employees or other contractors are often best placed to know exactly what is going on in a potential employer. The problem is that until now, you’ve had nowhere to really post the opportunity, and certainly little incentive to take the time out of your otherwise very busy life. Post it to PDXICons, and if any of our members picks up the business, you win with a referral bonus. It’s that easy.
What if I am the hiring manager?
Sorry, but that doesn’t work . This is an honor system all the way round, and hiring managers cannot refer opportunities and get a referral. However, you can benefit in other ways for your organization. If you send in an opportunity, you can be assured that you won’t be paying the typical 35% to 40% markup that you’d pay to a staffing agency. You’d negotiate a rate with the independent that would benefit you both. See the FAQ Employers page.
What about Recruiters or Staffing Agency postings?
We’ll post some of those, but only as a courtesy, and only if the current pool of opportunities is low. The contractor/consultant is already paying a large percentage to an agent. PDXICons wont pay referral bonuses to referrers on those. You probably already get a referral bonus from the agent if they place someone who you refer to them. Right now, while the site is trying to get up and going, and get a critical mass, we’ll probably accept referrals for recruiter postings.
How do I submit an opportunity?
Simply send the details to admin@pdxicons.com, and if we need more info we’ll contact you. Include the skills profile for the job, who the hiring contact is, where the work is located, all the usual things, and we’ll post it to the group. If someone is interested, they’ll be in touch with the employer directly, and they will negotiate directly. We’ll track the deal as far as we can, but it is an honor system. We depend on the Indie declaring that they won the business from your lead. If we find foul play, we’ll eject the consultant from the group, and they won’t be able to benefit from future leads.
What would I get paid?
3.5% of the first month’s fees by the indie to the hiring company. So if the consultant invoices $5,000 in the first month, you’d receive a $175 referral fee. Just for sharing the lead, and no matter who wins the business.
When would I get paid?
PDXICons isn’t a staffing agency, and isn’t funded to front referral fees, so you’d get paid when the consultant pays their fee to PDXICons. In most cases this will be once they’ve invoiced and been paid themselves, so it could be 30 to 60 days after they have accepted the gig.
What if two people refer in the same lead?
It could happen, but usually the pDXICons site admins will see it, before it posting through to the group, and will give you feedback – or request clarification – that there appears to be a similar post ahead of you. So post early and often on everything you see and hear about to maximize your chances of earning those referral bonuses!
Could I just send a lead to a friend of mine directly?
Absolutely! You can do that today, yourself, and without PDXICons. Your friend will appreciate it, and we’ll all be happy that someone won some work! The problem we’re addressing is that your circle of friends is limited, and you have no incentive to send the lead out to folks outside your circle. Your friend may not be interested for whatever reason. So we’re combining everyone’s circle of friends with this approach to maximize the chance that one of our member independents gets to hear about the opportunity. This way, multiple people get to see the post, and in return, increase your chance of getting a referral fee from whoever wins the business.