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$12k referral bonus seems a bit rich. Is that the norm for Seattle?

I'm seeing around $5-10k referral bonus at other Bay Area startups. Talent is also insanely constrained around here.

It's not the norm, but it has helped us a bit, and to be honest, it's still less expensive than most recruiters. When you're hiring positions between $90-$150K, recruiters want 20-30% of that first year's salary, so spending $24K to build a more organic pipeline makes a lot of sense.

I'm not sure if it's the norm but I know SEOmoz are desperate for top talent and are willing to pay for it. Their web-index is pretty complex and so the engineers they hire need to be highly skilled.

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