REGISTRATION
Q: Why should Candidates and Insiders register using personal email address?
A: TugLink account has no expiration and can be used by members year after year throughout their career. You create a personal profile, earn ratings from other members, establish your community reputation, and accumulate Rewards points for introducing new members to TugLink. To secure long-term access to the account, we recommend that you register using your main personal email address, not temporary or work email.
Q: What’s the benefit of using Invitation number for registration?
A: TugLink is not one of those “by invitation only” web sites. Our job search community is open to anyone who would like to register as Candidate or Insider. However, to reward current members for introducing their friends and colleagues to TugLink, we assign each registered Candidate or Insider their personal Invitation number which they can give to potential new members. This way you can earn Rewards points for spreading the word around. And to encourage new TugLink members to use Invitation number for registration, we credit their account with Rewards points, as well.
Q: What are the requirements for Employer registration?
A: TugLink accepts registrations only from direct employers (sorry, no recruiting firms and agents at this point) who can make posts for open vacancies at their own organizations. To verify your organization and establish your association with it, we ask new Employer members to provide company information and work email address.
Q: Can personnel staff and hiring managers register as Insiders?
A: Most definitely. Even if representatives of Human Resources department and hiring managers in most cases cannot accept referral bonuses from Candidates due to the potential conflict of interest, there is no reason why they should not be able to join TugLink as Insiders and look for the best talent for their team.
Q: What is Alias and what’s its purpose?
A: To give our members complete control over who and when can see their name and contact info, we ask all Candidates, Insiders, and Employers to select Alias, your personal online screen-name. Since this is the first thing that other members learn about you when looking at your job postings or profile, it’s a good idea to pick Alias that will work for you, not against you. Only after Candidate and Insider establish a tuglink (a mutual agreement to make a referral connection) can they get access to each other’s personal information.
CREATING PROFILE
Q: Why are there two profiles in my account?
A: TugLink members have Candidate and Insider profiles in their account. You can activate and use the profiles depending on your career situation and goals. This allows our members to keep all their tuglinking activities under one roof and easily switch from one role to the other. For example, if you are currently looking for a job, you can set up and use your Candidate profile.
Once you landed a job and would like to help your new employer attract high-quality talent (and get rewarded for it!), you can activate your Insider profile. Conversely, employed members can use Insider profile to scout the right candidates for their organizations. Should Insiders decide to make a career change, they can create their Candidate profile and begin search for another job.
Q: Why is it important to have my geographical location complete and up-to-date?
A: When you log into your account for the first time, you are asked to indicate your geographical location in the world. Once it’s done, the information will automatically appear in your Candidate and Insider profiles. This allows members to search for each other in a targeted manner and establish tuglinks with members only in the region(s) of their choice.
Q: How do I set up my account?
A: Before you can begin to browse the community and establish tuglinks with other members, you need to complete the set-up of your Candidate or Insider profile. Some fields such as Introduction, Background, Photo, and Video are highly recommended but optional. Some information, however, is required for the benefit of the entire tuglink community. Thus, Candidates must indicate their profession by selecting the corresponding Job Function. Meanwhile, Insiders would have to specify their current organization, industry, and job function.
For obvious reasons, it’s best for all members to provide detailed contact information to make connection with each other quick and easy. Please keep in mind that Candidates are never able to see other Candidates’ profiles or job postings. Same applies to Insiders. Only Candidates and Insiders can search one another and jobs posted by them. They can view each other’s contact info only after a tuglink has been established between them.
Q: How do I upload a video to my Candidate or Insider profile?
A: You will need to set up an account on YouTube.com, create your introduction video (preferably, not longer than 3-5 minutes), and upload it to your YouTube.com account. Next, copy the video’s URL link (not the Embed code) and paste it on Edit Profile page of you TugLink profile. You can paste it right over the URL of our instructional video. When done, please check how the video plays in your TugLink account.
Q: Can you recommend any video editing options?
A: Yes, you might want to check out one of the following video editing providers (unaffiliated with TugLink) which could help you create a very compelling video introduction for your profile: Onetruemedia.com, Motionbox.com, Stashspace.com, Jumpcut.com, and similar services.
Q: Can I upload my company's logo and video to my Insider profile?
A: Sure, if you would like to promote your company's brand as well as inform Candidates about your corporate culture and history, you can post any appropriate materials that would help other members learn more about your organization.
Q: Why do Insiders need to activate their account?
A: To be able to verify Insider’s organization and his/her association with it, we ask all Insiders to submit information such as company’s name, web site URL, and work email address. If the verification process is successfully completed (usually, within 1-2 days), you will receive Activation Code at your work email address and use it to activate your Insider profile. This process takes just a few clicks of the mouse and is necessary to ensure that all Insiders are really employees of the companies that they are claiming to be working at. It allows us to prevent any fraudulent activities and protect the interests of all TugLink members.
To keep Insider status always up-to-date, Insider account activation takes place every six months. If Insider is still with the same company, the same information can be resubmitted to receive Activation Code. But if you’ve changed employers, you would need to indicate the new company information and your new work email address (used only for verification purposes).
Q: What’s the difference between Public and Private profile status?
A: If for some reason you do not want your profile to come up in search results, you can make your profile private. In this “stealth” mode, you will still be able to create your own job postings or search other members’ profiles and job posts. But if you would like your Candidate or Insider profile to be included in search results (which is the most frequent and preferred scenario), the profile status should be switched to Public.
Q: What’s the availability of Premium service right now?
A: We will open Premium service to Candidates later this year.
Insiders can already enjoy the benefits of Premium membership completely FREE of charge this year. In the future, we will make an announcement in advance before Premium service becomes available for a fee. To take advantage of the premium features, you just need to select Premium subscription in the Manage Account section. Please keep in mind that it’s our first year of operation and, despite a very fast growth of the TugLink network around the globe, the presence of Candidates and their job postings can be spotty in different parts of the world.
Q: Why after signing up for Premium service am I not able to use Premium tuglinking options?
A: When your account status has been changed (e.g. you activated Insider Profile or subscribed to Premium Service), it takes some time for those changes to take effect. If after a few minutes nothing happens, you should log off and log in again. Sometimes, a web browser does not reload the web page fast enough and you might try opening another window or use a different browser.
Q: What is Job Wish List and how Candidates can effectively use it?
A: At some point in our life, we all can make a decision to move to a new area or switch industries, or both. To help Candidates send the message to Insiders about their future career plans, TugLink introduced Job Wish List. In this section, you can indicate which new industry you would like to join, or which new profession you want to take up, or to which part of the world you wish to relocate.
Q: Why am I not getting an email from TugLink with my registration confirmation?
A: There are two main reasons why TugLink messages confirming member registration and containing passwords or activation codes do not reach intended recipients.
First, check your Spam/Trash folder in case the message that you are expecting did not make it to your inbox. In general, we recommend that you add our @tuglink.com domain to the safe list in your email account. That way you can ensure that
Second most frequent reason is that sometimes people enter an email address with an error (e.g. wrong letter, missing underscore, etc) and, consequently, all TugLink messages do not get delivered to the right mailbox. When registering, it’s important to make sure that the provided email address is correct before clicking on the Register button.
Q: What do I do if used a wrong or misspelled email address during registration?
A: In case you do not receive an expected email from TugLink within 48 hours, you can check back with us by sending a message on the Contact TugLink page. If you provide your name and brief explanation, our Customer Service reps would look into it and, possibly, confirm whether emails sent to your address returned undelivered.
For security reasons, the email address used for registration cannot be changed. The only viable way to make sure that you are able to receive servicing messages from TugLink and avoid service interruption is to register again using the correct email address.
Q: Why am I experiencing problems when navigating the site?
A: First of all, check your web browser. For best site performance, we recommend using the most recent version of the popular Internet browsers such as Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7.
You can upgrade/download your Internet browser software here:
Firefox 2: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Internet Explorer 7: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
Sometimes computer anti-virus software (McAfee, Norton, etc), Internet browser security/privacy features, and firewall settings are set at a very high level which can be very restrictive and limiting user's ability to access some web sites or applications.
Another pointer - if you’ve got an error on a page and some drop-down windows do not work well, you can click away to another page and click back to complete the form. As a last resort, logging out and logging back in (better yet in a new browser window to clear the cache) should definitely set you back on track.
Also, the site software does not like long pauses because, for security reasons, it's programmed to log out after a few minutes of idle time to avoid unauthorized access to member's account.
Q: While browsing the web site I keep getting the "Do you want to display the nonsecure items" pop-up message, what do I do?
A: Because we use SSL technology to protect member personal information, Internet Explorer keeps asking if you would like to view both nonsecure and secure items. You might want to have your browser allow mixed content.
Here's the steps for that:
1. In Internet Explorer, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click the Custom Level button.
3. In the Security Settings dialog box, scroll to the 'Display mixed content' setting in the Miscellaneous section, and then click Enable.
4. Click OK in the Security Settings dialog box, and then click OK to exit Internet Options.
Enjoy smooth navigation now. Also, you can get even better site performance with the most current web browser version (see the previous Q&A answer).
REWARDS PROGRAM
Q: How many Rewards points can Candidates and Insiders earn?
A: Under the current terms of Rewards Program, TugLink members can get points for every new member invited by them when the new registrant activates his/her Insider Profile for the first time. There is no limit on how many new members can be invited and how many Rewards points can be earned by you for each new Insider. At the same time, all new members registering with Invitation # also get the same number of points when they activate their Insider profile for the first time.
In the future, when we begin to charge Candidates for Premium service, Rewards points will be credited for invited Candidate members, too. Currently, unlike Insiders, Candidates do not have to go through the verification process and there's no way for us to establish one's identity to prevent any fraudulent activities. When a fee is charged for premium service, a credit card transaction will provide the required identification.
Q: What is New Member Counter in my account and how does it work?
A: The New Member Counter allows you to monitor how many new members registered using your Invitation number. When a newly registered member introduced by you activates Insider profile, a corresponding record is made in the “Points Earned” section. Here, you can see Alias of those members, the number of Rewards points credited to your account for each instance, and the date of the activity.
Q: How can members use their earned Rewards points?
A: Each Rewards point has the value of one US dollar ($1). In the future, your rewards points can be used to pay for TugLink premium service when it becomes available only for a fee. Also, members can cash in their points (minimum 1000 and maximum 3000 points at a time). Last but not least, the points can be donated to one of the selected charities and humanitarian organization (no min or max limits).
Q: How do members receive the money after cashing their Rewards points?
A: When you submit your cash-in request, a TugLink representative will contact you to arrange it for you. You will receive the cashed amount minus the cost of money transfer which will be processed using one of the approved international payment services.
TUGLINKING PROCESS
Q: Where do jobs posted on TugLink come from?
A: Insiders post job openings found on their employer’s web site or Intranet. Candidates can browse Help Wanted sections in newspapers, career pages of corporate web sites, and various online job search boards such as Monster.com, HotJobs.com, CareerBuilder.com, EuroJobs.com, Indeed.com, TopJobs.co.uk, StepStone.com, CareerOne.com.au, etc. The more information Candidates include about the jobs for which they would like to be referred, the more effective tuglinking process will be.
Q: Are members required to offer a bonus in their job postings?
A: Absolutely not. Tuglink offers members maximum flexibility and freedom of choice. It’s totally up to Candidates whether to offer a referral bonus to Insiders and, if so, what amount to set for it. And Insiders can also decide whether to ask for a referral bonus in their job postings, and how much to charge for their time and effort. Like any marketplace, the TugLink community is no different. Offering a referral bonus and making it attractive enough, Candidates have a better chance of getting attention of Insiders and receiving a high-quality assistance.
Q: What’s the minimum and maximum amount of a referral bonus?
A: There’s no minimum or maximum limit but, please, keep it real! After all, if you (Candidate) get a job with Insider’s help, it is your responsibility to keep your end of the bargain and pay up in full and in a timely manner.
Q: How do I know in which currency a referral or signing bonus is?
A: There’s no need to indicate in your job posting the currency for a referral or signing bonus. All bonuses are meant to be in the currency of those countries where posted jobs are located. For example, if it’s a 300 bonus for a job opening in Germany, then it’s in Euros (€300). Same bonus for a position in the US would mean $300 (US Dollars). But if the vacancy is in Japan, then it’s ¥300 (Japanese Yen).
Q: What is a tuglink and how is it established?
A: A tuglink is a mutually accepted link established between two members, Candidate and Insider. We provide a level playing field for all members of our community. TugLink allows Insiders to decide which Candidates they would like to refer, and Candidates can choose from which Insiders to get referrals. Insider helps Candidate by providing info about the company and the job, and makes a referral to the employer. Candidate makes a commitment to give it a good effort while interviewing for the job and pays the agreed referral bonus if he/she gets hired.
Before a tuglink is established, both Candidates and Insiders can check each other’s profiles to make sure that meet each other’s expectations. Thus, Insider would check Candidate’s video (if posted), brief introduction and professional background description as part of the preliminary screening. Then, Insider can decide whether to establish a tuglink with this Candidate and whether to accept the offered referral bonus (some Insiders might agree to the tuglink but opt out of getting a referral bonus in order to avoid conflict of interest).
At the same time, Candidate can also evaluate Insider to make sure this is the right person to make an introduction to the company. Candidate would check Insider’s profile for such important information as Insider’s geographical location (most likely, a London based employee can provide better assistance with getting a job in London than Insider located in Australia), Insider’s job function (some Candidates prefer to get a referral for a Marketing job from Insider in Marketing department rather than from somebody in Accounting), Insider’s job title and tenure with the company.
If Candidate and Insider are satisfied with each other’s profile and would like to cooperate, they establish a tuglink and begin the referral process. Sometimes, a deal clincher can be the fact that both members went to the same school, come from the same town, enjoy the same hobby, support the same team, or have something else in common. In such cases, personal connection between tuglink partners is achieved faster and grows stronger.
Q: When and how can Candidates and Insiders communicate with each other?
A: As soon as a tuglink between Candidate and Insider is established, they can view each other’s Contact Information page which contains their name and contact details. Now, these members can meet in person or use different means of electronic communication such as email, phone, fax, etc.
Some of the following Internet-based services provide very convenient (free or very cheap) voice service: Jaxtr.com, Skype.com, Jajah.com, Truphone.com, Hullo.com, Fring.com, Rebtel.com, Connectmeanywhere.com, etc.
Also, a connection can be easily made using various instant messaging services such as AIM.com, ICQ.com, Messenger.yahoo.com, Meebo.com, Koolim.com, IM.live.com, eBuddy.com, iLoveIM.com, and others.
Q: How does the ratings system work and why member’s rating is so important?
A: While browsing the site, you can view ratings of all registered members. This is another factor to consider while making a decision with which members to partner. However, only those members who have previously established a tuglink are able to rate and review each other based on their experience dealing with one another. It’s critical for both Insiders and Candidates to earn high ratings and favorable reviews. Members’ standing within the TugLink community is to a large degree based on those indicators. This is especially important for Candidates because online reputation can follow them and, if not very attractive, might have negative effects on their career in the new place of employment.
Q: What is Tuglinking History and how can it be used?
A: Each Candidate and Insider has personal Tuglinking History which nobody else but the account owner can view. This is a private log where a member’s activities on the web site are recorded in one place. At the same time, Tuglinking History serves as a control panel and allows you to manage all your tuglinking relationships with other members. When Candidate gets finally hired for one of the jobs for which he/she was referred by Insider, that tuglink can be closed with a click on the “Got Hired” button. The remaining tuglinks should be promptly cancelled using the “Cancel” button to let Insiders know that you are now off the market. At the same time, Insiders can provide job status update to Candidates by cancelling tuglinks if those job positions have been filled and are not available anymore.
Q: How do I tell in which part of the web site I’m located at any given time?
A: When browsing the TugLink community, you can easily spot your location by the image in the top right corner of the text container. “Binoculars” means you are on the Candidate side, “Compass” – you are in the Insider area. You can use shortcuts such as MyAccount tab, Candidate Profile and Insider Profile links in the upper right corner to quickly return to the main areas.
REFERRAL & SIGNING BONUSES
Q: How can Candidates pay a referral bonus to Insiders? When is the payment due?
A: If Insider provided a referral and Candidate was successfully hired for the job as a result of the referral, the referral bonus (in the amount agreed by Candidate and Insider) is due within 30 days after Candidate’s first day in the new job.
The bonus can be paid to the Insider in cash or by check. Alternatively, payments can be made via wire transfer (WesternUnion.com, Moneygram.com, etc), or using Internet and mobile phone services such as PayPal.com, Obopay.com, Moneybookers.com, Textpayme.com, Certapay.com, KushCash.com, Luup.com, WireCard.com, Xoom.com, Paymate.com.au.
Q: What are other forms of referral bonus payment?
A: Sometimes, instead of cash payment, members send each other referral bonuses in the form of a gift card or gift certificate (for the full amount of the bonus). It can give the payment a personal touch. Besides, a card or certificate can be sent by regular mail. There are many local products available in each country. However, most popular gift cards and certificates are from major credit card companies as their offerings are easy to purchase and accepted for payment almost everywhere. For more details and terms of use visit provider’s web site. See a sample of gift products below.
Universal gift cards:
Visa - http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/visa_gift_card.html
American Express - http://www.americanexpress.com/gift
Online gift cards (e-gift cards):
Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/gp/gc
Dell.com - http://www.buygconline.com/
Q: How long does a tuglink between Candidate and Insider remains active?
A: Each tuglink established between two members is active only for 3 months. If by the end of this period, Candidate is not hired for the job, then this tuglink expires and all obligations associated with it are off.
Q: How many referral bonuses can Insider get for the same Candidate?
A: Well, sometimes Insiders are rewarded twice for Candidates that they referred to their organization – first by Candidate and then by Employer, if they both independently promised a referral bonus. There’s nothing wrong with “double-dipping”. The bigger the financial incentives for Insiders, the more vibrant and effective our job search community becomes.
Q: How many tuglinks with Insiders can Candidate establish for the same job?
A: Usually, it’s an exclusive link. Candidate picks Insider who is in a better position (i.e. the right geo location, job function, department, etc) to provide a referral and effective assistance with the job interview process. However, to improve their chances, Candidates sometimes choose to establish a tuglink for their most desired job with a couple of different Insiders. One Insider might be a senior executive with more leverage inside the organization. The other Insider could be, for instance, a person with similar job responsibilities and intimate knowledge of the job requirements. However, Candidates should be very careful when making a decision about the referral bonus amount as well as how many Insiders to link up with. If things go well and the tuglink results in Candidate getting hired for the job, Candidate is responsible for paying out the announced referral bonus to each Insider associated with this tuglink, which can be rather costly.
Q: When do Employers pay out signing and referral bonuses promised in their job postings?
A: Referral bonuses to Insiders and signing bonuses to Candidates are due as indicated by Employers in their job postings. The payout terms range from “paid on Candidate hire” to “6 months after hire”.