A service for people who are in a job but want a new one: use your social network to find opportunities without your boss finding out.

- When
- Jul 2013
Hire My Friend was for people who had a job and wanted a new one, without their boss finding out. You put yourself forward through your friends rather than the job boards, so nothing showed up where your employer might see it, and companies could headhunt startup people directly for far less than a headhunter would charge. Anyone could join.
The idea was Jon Gold's and it was Makeshift's first product, launched in July 2013, with TechCrunch, The Next Web and Fast Company all writing it up on the day. By early 2014 it was the product we were betting on: Nick's 90-day plan called the next six months make or break, and the first weeks of the year were going well, with a run of My Friend, Hired stories about people finding jobs at places like Memrise and Omada Health.
Coverage
TechCrunch“New London Startup Lab Makeshift Gives Birth To Its First MVP: HireMyFriend”2013
“Makeshift, a new "Startup Lab" in London's Eastern tech cluster, has now produced its first product, HireMyFriend.”
The Next Web“Want a new job but don't want to alert your current boss? Hire My Friend may well be for you”2013
“Makeshift, which describes itself as "a new kind of startup studio" based in London, has today launched Hire My Friend to "give a leg up to the little guy".”
Fast Company“Hire My Friend Makes Sure Your Boss Doesn't Find Out You're Job Hunting”2013
“London-based Makeshift launched a service to help full-timers discreetly look for work by leveraging their network of friends.”
Made at Makeshift.
Around the same time
- Higher resolutionsWriting · 2013
- In conversation: Max Fraser, Stef Lewandowski and Christopher RaeburnSpeaking · 2013
- Hackathon and on and onWriting · 2013
- East Dulwich ForumProjects · 2013


