In my latest series of articles I must start them all with a Dr. Wayne Dyer quote “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Simple and yet profound! I suggest you read that quote again and read it out loud twice. In short, that quote is all about keeping an open mind.
So what is Nepotism 2.0? Well it’s actually just plain old networking! Now stay with me here.
If I asked 9 out of 10 people what nepotism was they would never come back with a positive response. The hiring of family and friends, or a token patronage hiring is frowned upon pretty much everywhere. In fact it is almost banished as a company policy in many cases. But we know it still happens every single day.
Nepotism was okay when you were 15 years old and your uncle helped you get a summer job where he was working. But now, you want that job on your own merit and hate the thought that nepotism exists at all.
Remember the Wayne Dyer quote for a minute and consider this.
With the huge downsizing companies are experiencing of late there is little room to make a mistake in the hiring process. Research tells us that hiring the wrong person can cost a company as much as 2 million dollars.
So if a middle manager recommends you for a position, you are basically coming into an interview at a level 4. Not because you know Bill, but because an insider knows you, and trusts his intuition that you are the right person for the job. You see it’s not just about Bill wanting to get you a job, it’s about Bill wanting a “known” commodity for the company he works for. He already knows you personally, your history, your work ethic, your team player abilities, your communication skills, and he knows all this first hand. Yes yes, it’s nepotism I know, but from a company perspective, Bill has put his name on the line for you and that reference is golden for you.
Many companies now have policies in place to keep nepotism out of the hiring process. And yet many companies actually have a policy that encourages employees to suggest people that would be a good fit in the organization. With one little side note, if you recommend someone, that person’s name is attached to you for a full year. If they turn out to be a dud it will be reflected in your own personal employee file. It may still be nepotism though.
Ok, so we pretty much get nepotism and likely still hate the thought of it all. Again, I come back to Wayne Dyer’s quote “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Stop fighting nepotism! Best to welcome Nepotism 2.0 and here’s what I mean.
Nepotism 2.0 is you embracing it, and making it work for you. Stop being an idealist and wanting to get hired purely on your own merit. Your call to action is get out there, start networking, get to know some of the employees at the company you would like to work for, ask questions, take someone to lunch.
See where I’m going, in time, people on the inside will have had a chance to get to know you socially, by you simply being assertive and getting your name known etc. When opportunities come up in the company, those employees you made friends with, will think of you for the job. And that’s nepotism 2.0 .. you making nepotism work for you.
Now just let me go off on a little rant here. You are a sophisticated person, so you are very familiar with what networking is. Well when you are busy out there networking, you are in fact feeding the nepotism channel. What? Yep! Truth is, when you are networking while working, you are keeping your name out there and that’s exactly where job offers come from. When another company offers you a job because they already know you through your networking you would never call it nepotism right? Well that’s exactly what Nepotism 2.0 is all about.
The whole concept of nepotism only seems disgusting when you are out of work and looking to be hired. When another company head hunts you through your networking efforts, that’s considered okay. End of rant, but food for thought!
HR may still use all the old interview format questions, but now you have an edge, people inside have a more holistic impression of you. Prior to that interview, some employees have already met you, talked to you, know what you like, essentially what kind of person you are beyond just what a static resume says about your education and work experience.
HR does nothing through intuition, they only use valid and proven hiring systems. Executives, with years of experience, hire on intuition all the time, which really comes from their working experience, not just a gut feeling. FACT: You can not hire a person on his or her resume alone, it may qualify you on paper, but who are you really? The interview can tell them that, but then again, HR rarely takes the holistic approach when hiring, like I said they use old model hiring formats.
HR is trying to model executives who hire intuitively and want to make that into a hiring process model they can use. It just can’t be done! It’s the individual executive’s years of experience that qualify him or her to know instantly when they meet the ideal employee. It’s not something that can be formatted and used over and over again.
Again, enter Nepotism 2.0. Get the real you out there, the you beyond just your education and work experience. Many employers will take a less qualified person who compensates with their strong team player abilities and equally strong communication skills. The company might never get to know that about you in a single job interview. But when you meet some of the staff ahead of the actual interview, talk by phone etc they get to know you better and better. And it’s that little assertive quality in you that can actually open doors very wide.
Just “change the way you look at things…” and start making nepotism your friend. Quietly, make everyone you know aware of what you are looking for, the specific type of work, or even name the company you want to work for, someone you know, will know someone and that may be all the edge you need.
It’s usually always a pride or ego issue that keeps you fighting this one. I am here to say just three words to you “let it go” .. pride and ego will never help you move forward. They will keep you in the poor house forever!
