Frequently Asked Questions

Because this is a complex space, we get a lot of questions… Here are some answers below for Hiring Managers, for Candidates and for everyone else!



Hiring Managers' FAQ

Why should I use Greatvine?

At it's core, it's pretty simple. You check reviews from past users before buying a product, before going into a restaurant, before contracting a small business. Why not do that before you hire a person and entrust them with leading your people (let alone manage millions of dollars)? Greatvine gets opinions from your candidates' former colleagues.

Current recruitment practices rely on candidate's self-promotion and self-provided data, in a process that does not leave much time to assess candidates in depth. That leaves hiring managers at risk of having blind spots that can cost a lot down the line. We would like to think we are good judges of character, but we are biased… Greatvine helps check against those biases.

Greatvine fits within your current recruitment process, helps you make better hires, and only costs if we have insights to share. The question really is: why shouldn't you use it?

How does Greatvine work for me?

Once you provide Greatvine with the name, email and LinkedIn profile (or resume) of a candidate, we get to work. Just give us the date you need insights back in time to prepare for that candidate's interview.

1. Greatvine contacts your candidate to get their consent. This consent is important to ensure we operate within the bounds of privacy legislation. If the candidate opts-out, we will let you know: if they have something to hide, that can be a flag for you to consider.
2. Greatvine's algorithm identifies your candidate's former colleagues (excluding ones from their current workplace). Only Greatvine knows who gets contacted, so ensure respondents' privacy is respected.
3. Greatvine sends a targeted survey to relevant former colleagues identified by our algorithm, to gather anonymised feedback on your candidate. The survey assesses leadership qualities that former colleagues would have seen in action, but that are hard for you to assess in a typical recruitment process.
4. Greatvine sends you a message on the date you asked us to provide insights back, letting you know how many responses were received. You can access a report highlighting the insights we gathered, and suggested areas to explore in interview.

Greatvine's report helps fight biases and gives you the edge to recruit better people leaders.

What am I paying for?

You only pay to access Greatvine's candidate insights.

No candidate consent? No responses from former colleagues? No fee. It's that easy.

How do I know the feedback is genuine?

Our algorithm uses your candidate's career path to identify people who have crossed professional paths with them. Using a combination of employer, location, dates and role, we pinpoint who would have seen your candidate in action. Only these people are contacted to complete our survey.

To increase our response rate, we need to protect our respondents' privacy and anonymity. This means we do not share the list of people contacted for feedback, nor any identifying information about survey respondents. Some respondents may decide to share their contact details to make themselves available for follow-up conversations.

While our approach opens the door to respondents forwarding the survey to other people, such behaviour is in itself a signal about your candidate (whether positive or negative).

Can I screen out candidates based on their Greatvine results?

No. Greatvine provides you an additional data point to increase your chances of making a good hire, but Greatvine alone does not give you enough to make any decision on your candidate. You will still need to interview your candidate, using Greatvine insights to ask better questions.

Greatvine does not predict performance or technical capability. It focuses on picking up cues about your candidate's likely cultural impact, based on how former colleagues remember your candidate's past behaviour.

Candidates' FAQ

How does Greatvine help me get a job?

If you are a master at showcasing yourself in interviews, Greatvine may not make a big difference for you… but if you tend to be more humble about your past accomplishments, Greatvine helps your application stand out.

Greatvine gives your recruiter a window into your past successes, giving your former colleagues a chance to promote the great impressions you left behind.

How does Greatvine impact my chances of getting hired?

Greatvine provides additional input on your “soft skills” for recruiters to make more informed decisions, it is not a make-or-break part of your recruitment process and does not assess your technical capability / know-how.

Greatvine’s insights are used as an input to your interview, enabling a more informed discussion with your future employer about your career path. Former colleagues may spotlight certain things about you, but this will never replace an interview where you can tell your own story.

Why should I provide consent to Greatvine?

The real question is, why wouldn't you?

Let the former colleagues you impressed shine a spotlight on your achievements!

Worried about getting a bad wrap? We all pissed off someone somewhere throughout our career, or have been stuck in a bad context where we did things we are not proud of. We understand that, and Greatvine finding those skeletons in your closet may freak you out. But Greatvine is only an input to interviews, so you will have a chance to explain any of those skeletons and what you learned from them.

And if you really think that nobody from your past will have a good word to share about you… then you probably will not want to give consent to Greatvine. But that might say a lot in itself, wouldn't it?

Can I get a list of who you will contact and vet it?

No. We do not share the list of people identified by our algorithm with the candidate or hiring manager, to protect respondents' privacy. We want your former colleagues to be assured they can speak freely without fear of being identified.

What you can do though, is exclude certain past experiences from our search. Some workplaces can create a context where you might not have shined your brightest, and you might not want us to go down that alley.

You are in control of which parts of your career history we search, not which people we contact.

Are my current colleagues / managers going to be contacted?

No - except if you explicitly tell us we can. In your consent form, you can pick which parts of your career history we search. Greatvine enables you to easily exclude your current workplace in its search for former colleagues.

If you are looking for a new job, we want to limit the risk of your employer hearing about it this way.

Others' FAQ

I received an email from Greatvine, what's this about?

Greatvine is currently testing new functionalities. Our algorithm suggests you have worked with a candidate we are screening: if you have worked with this person and have information to share, please provide feedback through the link you received.

If you feel our email to you is inappropriate, we would welcome your feedback to improve our services: please get in touch!

Why should I respond to Greatvine's survey?

Did you love working with the candidate you've been contacted about? Let hiring managers know, and give your former colleague a better chance of getting the job they want!

Do you think hiring managers should be warned about certain aspects of the candidate? Give them a heads-up through our anonymous survey so that they can make their hiring decision with their eyes wide open.

It take only 4 minutes, and you can help good people get good jobs. Easy!