I had a friend of mine that worked for the company back in 2020 that had left around his year mark. I was honestly just applying places because I was exhausted from the restaurant industry. I had a couple interviews with positions offered at other companies but a lot of them wouldn't provide insurance or other various benefits until my 6 month mark or 1 year mark. One being an outbound e-commerce manager. The pay would've been great but I wouldn't have any benefits and my wife and I were planning on having a child the following year. Ended up using him as a referral to apply at my currently company and after a series of interviews, I was offered the position with the contingency that I would get my licensed to be a stockbroker.
tldr; yes and no, friend worked for company previously and used him as a referral.