>>16263155Both. Let's work with your example of 1000 applicants for 5 open positions.
>There are almost certainly more than 5 people who are qualified enough for the job.>It's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to objectively rank all 1000 candidates to find the 5 BEST people. There will be a degree of luck involved.So if one person (Tom) qualifies for the job (just like several dozens, if not hundreds of other candidates) AND you have a dependable employee reliably vouching for them, then Tom is:
a) Qualified for the job (According to whatever objective criteria was applied to everyone fairly)
b) A safer bet than the other people, whom you know almost NOTHING about. They might even be lying on their application.
Recommendations don't bypass the selection process, they just eliminate the luck variable if you already fit the bill.