I've applied to a few jobs at one place recently, and one of the questions that is asked is whether I have a family contact or social relationship contact within their company. I have a good friend there now, so they agreed to let me list them as my social contact.
I provided the name, title, and working group of my social contact, on the job application online.
What effect does this have on my application? Would I typically be given preference? Will my friend be contacted internally to help them evaluate my skills / personality?
This is the first job application in which I have encountered such a question, so I think it's interesting.