Developers on OfferZen now have the opportunity to turn unwanted LinkedIn InMails into rewards and real cash with our new Chrome extension: Dino Referrer. Here’s why we built it – and how you can get involved in helping make it ten times better.
The thesis
OfferZen has always been a community-focused business. This means that we spend our time thinking up ways that we can serve the community and add value to developers and companies. The real trick, we’ve learned, is doing this in a way which is a win-win.
We know that the tech industry is made up of a bunch of passionate communities and we want to be a part of those communities, not just contributing as silent investors. As a result, we meet and chat with developers every day. We know what bugs them. Over the years, we have also contributed through our community data reports, event sponsorship, community content, documentaries and, of course, our swag.
I personally love interacting with our community and messing around to create things they say might be useful. Our various open-source projects are a particularly fun way of collaborating.
How Dino Referrer happened
When talking to developers, LinkedIn InMails from recruiters – particularly generic messages that don’t actually know what they’re talking about – were consistently brought up as a pet peeve in their job searches.
The thing is, even if you’re not interested in who the recruiter is and what they’re looking for, we are because we can help them find the right fit. I wanted to create a tool that would give you a way to easily deal with spam, and get rewarded for doing so.
Enter Dino Referrer.
It’s worth noting upfront that I’m not a developer, but I do like to tinker, and AI has made that miles easier. I created a bare-bones version of the extension (learn more about it here) and then tested it against a couple of helpful members of our community.
With their help and feedback, we’ve built an extension that helps developers respond to recruiters with an automatic message referring them to OfferZen.
That being said, if you’re also someone who likes to tinker, or someone who likes to fix the dodgy code of tinkerers, please have a look at the GitHub repo and contribute!
How to use Dino Referrer
First, add the extension to your Chrome browser.
Next, log in to your OfferZen profile to get your referral code – you will be prompted to give the extension permission to save your referral code. [You need to have an OfferZen profile to use the extension].
Sorted! The next time you receive a message on LinkedIn about a role you’re not interested in, click the Dino Referrer icon. It’ll pre-fill a response that includes your custom sign up link.
If a company you referred uses your sign up link, you’ll be notified via email.
What can you earn?
If one company you referred to OfferZen with Dino Referrer fills in our contact form, you’ll get an OfferZen t-shirt.
If five companies you referred via Dino Referrer fill in our contact form, you’ll get an epic OfferZen gift pack (shirt, stickers, hoodie, the works).
If a company you refer buys an OfferZen unlimited subscription you get:
- €1337 cash for Europe-based companies
- R10 000 cash for South Africa-based companies
Thanks for experimenting with us
We love trying new things and we really value community feedback. Give Dino Referrer a try, and if there’s anything you don’t enjoy about the experience, get in touch.
You can also adopt a DIY approach and fix the bugs yourself here.
Thanks for helping us grow!