How bad is nepotism in the public sector? (employee, job openings, applying)
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I came across this story and it just about made me sick! As if affirmative action weren't enough, apparently nepotism is another obstacle to get around and from talking to others I've heard it's rampant in the pubic sector.
I once worked as a private contractor at a government agency and I found it odd that, with all the test and strict hiring practices, there were so many employees that had sisters, uncles, cousins all working at the same department, it all makes sense now.
" When Sacramento County advertised three openings for stationary engineers in March, 55 people applied for the jobs paying $68,500 annually plus health and retirement benefits. One job was given to the son of Jeff Gasaway, who runs the county's facility and property services, the division that was hiring. Another job was given to the son of Larry Vice, who heads two sections in the division."
It is very bad here in Chicago. The county assessor just made headlines for putting all his children on the payroll and his response was he didn't have to follow county rules because he is an independent body.
I vote against nearly every incumbent here but the schmucks in the city keep reelecting them.
One thing I've noticed over the years is how many people that work for the state or federal government had parents or siblings who did the same thing. I'd like to see some sort of survey done because I believe its a very high percentage. I think their family members learn "tricks of the trade" that make getting a job easier. Perhaps, they "tip off" their family members when there is an opening, so they can get an application in. Of course, they may also have some pull in terms of getting the people in a department or agency that is hiring to "interview" their family member instead of sending out a routine letter of denial. Of course, if the family member has served in the military as well, they get "veteran's preference" when it comes to hiring. Their family members know just how good the health insurance and retirement benefits working for Uncle Sam are and they'll play games for years just to "get on" the public payroll as a secretary or a file clerk.
I concluded that unless you have an "in" with someone important in the agency, your prospects of being hired are slim to nonexistent.
I admit, I'm a little bitter about this subject. When I was younger, I applied for a score of jobs with state and federal government agencies. Seldom did I even get an interview. I remember interviews that were obviously totally perfunctory. They knew before I even set foot in the room they weren't going to hire me and it was obvious from their attitude. At one point, I took a civil service test or examination. I scored at the 95th percentile. Didn't matter. It didn't result in a job after I had filed at least twenty applications. The truth is that there probably aren't a lot of job openings and even years ago, there were probably a lot of applicants for each position. It doesn't make things easier. However, I'm convinced that people running this agencies can "find a way" to do about anything they want to do. If they want a family member hired, they can get around nepotism laws. If they want someone who scored low on the civil service examination, they'll find a way to hire them.
I've worked for myself for the last twenty-five years and a big part of it is that I just couldn't stand these kinds of games. Now, I'm the one doing the hiring.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, originally from SF Bay Area
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Due to civil service rules and fear of lawsuits public agencies are far more diligent in fair hiring practices (I have been a manager at two over 20 years). Still, I see several family members working at the same agency all the time. Currently a mother and son both work where I do, but in different departments and completely different work. As mentioned by Markg there is an advantage to knowing someone if only to be aware of the openings. They are not highly advertised because they get so many applicants, sometimes only posted on the external website. After applying there is no advantage to the family member applicant, they have to compete with the others and be the best candidate, in fact, most of the time the hiring managers will not realize it's a family member of another employee at interview/selection time. At a previous agency I worked supervised a mother and daughter. The grandmother worked at a different location as did the brother, so there were 4 family members. All were dedicated, productive employees and all but one have retired after many years there.
Location: Tweakerville (aka Sh**ty Heights), San Diego, CA
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Nepotism is very common in large school districts. I worked for two of them, and one had entire families working there. Since this school district was hurting for bilingual employees, they were hiring the children and relatives of the bilingual employees already employed there. Plus, they weren't requiring the new bilingual employees to go through the testing process that the general public was, they were just hiring them directly.
It is very bad here in Chicago. The county assessor just made headlines for putting all his children on the payroll and his response was he didn't have to follow county rules because he is an independent body.
I vote against nearly every incumbent here but the schmucks in the city keep reelecting them.
In Rosemont it is extreme. Just about every village officer is related to the Mayor. It started with the late Mayor, father of the current one, took office.
The most nepotism I saw was my first telecom sales job. My manager was married to the GM. That one benefited me nicely. Guess which sales manager got the best leads? The only problem became when my manager and I starting having disagreements and her husband asked me for my honest opinion, boy was that a mistake to give it. I went from golden boy to stable boy quick. It took me a few months to recover from that one.
Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate hires someone who has no relevant education and training as an Environmental Officer. This person is a former MacDonlad's employee.
It isn't as bad as in the private sector. It is rampant there. It always shocks me that business owners and execs allow their manager run their departments like a fiefdom passing over qualified candidates that can add more value.
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