Nepotism in Dallas, have you seen it? (Atlanta: school, to live in)

[MaryS80]

bjones do you hold some sort of a grudge because someone got a job over you?

I'll tell you like my parents told me when I was a kid, and like my former supervisor told me.

"life isn't fair"

[Bjones1976]

Based on your experience I understand why you feel the way you do.

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

How does a total stranger REALLY KNOW a perspective employees work history? We can call their past employers only if they give permission and then they can't really say much. About the only question they can answer is, "are they eligible for rehire?" Someone could still be eligible for rehire but have had a terrible work ethic by calling in sick often, being late, etc. The past employer can not say, "oh man, they were late every single day that they did show up for work." The past employer has to tip-toe thru this process in order to avoid a potential lawsuit. This is why so many companies have really gotten away from even bothering to check out past employment. Same goes for even "professional" and "friend" references. No one in their right mind will put down someone that will say something to disqualify them. The future employer does not know these references personally either. When you hire someone and come to find out they are not all they were cracked up to be even if they are "qualified" for the job and you have to start the process all over again it does get frustrating. Posting job openings is not cheap not to mention the costs of any type of training, shifting workloads to cover the empty position, etc

I'm not saying that the person doing the hiring has to know the person but they could get their name from a very good reliable source they are acquainted with. Getting "burned" a couple of times makes it much easier to not even post the job and just get it out by word of mouth to those that you can trust. When we were hiring for one position a few years ago this is how we ended up w/ the person we hired and still have in that position. I mentioned it to a friend that told me about a good friend of hers and how great she was. I got her name and told my friend to have her call and come in. She has worked out PERFECTLY!!!! Every single one of the other candidates were kind of just flinging around and not taking anything serious and surely would not have lasted much more than a year if that long.

Another tactic that is common are companies hiring people that already have a job but they are connected w/ them in some way thru their daily dealings at work. We have lost several employees this way and not one of them was looking for a job. They were noticed for their hardwork and dedication by companies we dealt w/ that were looking to hire. We have done the same thing ourselves. It just happens. We want dependable people to do the jobs that they are required to do. I'd rather hire someone that I have some experience w/ and KNOW that they are reliable and trainable. I've had enough of hiring people that I had not one clue of who they were and within a week or a few months they are not what they said they were and if they don't leave on their own we have let them go and started looking all over again. Chances are that person will not put down that job on their next application/resume so the next employer will most likely not be calling.

[Bjones1976]

Is this rhetorical or would you like me to seriously answer you?

Originally Posted by MaryS80

bjones do you hold some sort of a grudge because someone got a job over you?

I'll tell you like my parents told me when I was a kid, and like my former supervisor told me.

"life isn't fair"

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Bjones1976

Based on your experience I understand why you feel the way you do.

And I'm not the ONLY one that feels that way. It happens everyday everywhere. You can call it nepotism or whatever you want. It still boils down to the fact that an employer wants to find the best fit for his/her company and not waste a lot of time and money doing so. They will willingly take someone that comes as a good sound reference that can be trained to do the job over someone they know nothing about. I stated earlier the costs associated w/ advertising a job opening. Has anyone else noticed how thin the classifieds for jobs is in the DMN? Checked the costs lately? It's no wonder. Same for all of the internet job posting sites out there. We have used them all at some point or another. It adds up in a hurry. When you can easily drop several grand for one job opening and still not find someone to fit........ it gets old fast. The days of finding an employee by running an ad are over with for most companies.

[Tta]

i really don't think it is a Dallas trait. i do believe that it happens everywhere, but can't say that it happens more in Dallas than anywhere else in the world. its just human nature to be more comfortable with something that is known versus unknown. even in this case, where the known is really barely more than the unknown candidate.

[Bjones1976]

No your not the only one who feels that way, but not every company adopts those hiring practices either, which is why I thought to start this topic. Having had the opportunity to travel (a little bit) I've been able to observe similiarities and differences in different areas it's interesting!

I think the way I do, you feel the way you do, no biggie this exchange has been informative.

Thanx for responding

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

And I'm not the ONLY one that feels that way. It happens everyday everywhere. You can call it nepotism or whatever you want. It still boils down to the fact that an employer wants to find the best fit for his/her company and not waste a lot of time and money doing so. They will willingly take someone that comes as a good sound reference that can be trained to do the job over someone they know nothing about. I stated earlier the costs associated w/ advertising a job opening. Has anyone else noticed how thin the classifieds for jobs is in the DMN? Checked the costs lately? It's no wonder. Same for all of the internet job posting sites out there. We have used them all at some point or another. It adds up in a hurry. When you can easily drop several grand for one job opening and still not find someone to fit........ it gets old fast. The days of finding an employee by running an ad are over with for most companies.

[Bjones1976]

Thank you for responding Tta

Originally Posted by Tta

i really don't think it is a Dallas trait. i do believe that it happens everywhere, but can't say that it happens more in Dallas than anywhere else in the world. its just human nature to be more comfortable with something that is known versus unknown. even in this case, where the known is really barely more than the unknown candidate.

[lh_newbie]

My coworkers, my management and I have discussed hiring practices. Since I work in a rather niche market (data networking) that has a very large shortage of qualified candidates - we actually interview with a focus on logical troubleshooting skills, the ability to use reference materials, teamwork and their ability to document their work. With a focus on these things, we feel that if a candidate is sharp, we can always pack in the technical knowledge at a later point - we're more-or-less interviewing for potential. It's a brutal field to hire in.

Brian

[grindin]

Yeah, I've been having a hard time finding a job in the Atlanta area, and it's all about WHO you know rather than WHAT you know.

So, obviously, it's not exclusive to the D/FW area.

But regardless of where it happens, it can be discouraging.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by Bjones1976

Speaking from experience here (I'm a freelance designer) I would rather hire someone who could show me that they can do the job required, period. Just because someone I respect refers someone doesn't necessarily mean that that person is what I need for that particular job. In fact the whole hiring "friends" or "friends of friends" breeds (from my experience) a certain type of work environment, but that's my observation.

Your experience as a designer is not mecessarily applicable to the majority of industries/business types. I say that as someone who has been in professional recruiting for a number of years. Whereas in design one can be the biggest A-hole jerk in the world, as long as they do good work they will thrive. My wife who is now a stay at home mom is an interior designer and some of the people in her world whom I met wouldn't last a second outside of design.

For most companies across most industries, actual talent at a given job usually is not the #1 thing valued by employers. Dependability and reliability are usually valued more. Most people lie on resumes and most lie in interviews, so at the end of the day when an employer knows someone that person by virtue of being a known commodity gets a leg up over a stranger.

This holds true across the country, not just Dallas.