By JOANN S. LUBLIN
Your friends and business contacts may feel extra motivated to help you find work nowadays as businesses boost employee incentives for successful referrals.
Ringo Nishioka epitomizes the new mantra of job hunting: Who you know and what you know count more than ever.
The jobless executive landed the top human-resources spot for WhitePages Inc. in March, thanks to an introduction by a business-intelligence analyst there. Lotus Kam told executives that Mr. Nishioka shone in the same role when they worked together at another Seattle start-up. She will collect a $2,500 referral bonus after he reaches his three-month anniversary Thursday.
A third of the 27 people joining WhitePages since January came through such referrals. Mr. Nishioka and colleagues now teach associates throughout the company how to search for prospects in their LinkedIn networking accounts. “Top talent knows top talent,” he says.