Helping a friend get a job

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
But if your friend is not qualified for the job, would you still recommend him?

Being qualified and actually being able to do the job are completely separate. If he could learn it then sure, recommend him.

 

[Jeff7]

I dislike the system that gets people places in life by who they know, and not what they know or how they apply it. Too often it results in people being employed at jobs they don't deserve. It hurts efficiency and product quality.

 

[petejk]

If he is qualified, then you are a dick.

If he isn't qualified, you are not a dick.

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

Is there any other POV? I dare say not.

 

[Reckoner]

Originally posted by: Stunt
So my good friend from university has been job hunting for 9-10 months since he graduated; 12 months after I did (he did an internship). Over that time period I have established myself within my company as a Department Manager with 20 direct reports. Even though the company is huge (24,000 employees globally), my division is tight knit and management in different plants work together all the time.

My friend is getting frustrated and a mutual friend suggested I try to get him into my company. I didn't feel it was my place to suggest him as a hire; he would have to apply if he wanted a position at the company. I don't want to suggest him as a candidate because I don't want to be in a situation down the road where I'm his boss, I don't want to say he's a good fit for the company when I don't think he is, I don't want him to get a position someone else should have got because of qualifications.

The mutual friend called me a 'dick' for not wanting to do this.
I have already offered support in the form of helping with cover letters, resume, where to look for jobs, how to find companies who hire, how to intervew well, how to network.
Asking me to help him get a job with my company is unfair to me.

Thoughts appreciated...am i being unreasonable?

Wow you're an ass

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

Exactly. If you are any kind of friend at all you would get him in touch with HR and/or hand deliver his resume.

 

[Reckoner]

I don't see why you can't at LEAST help him get an interview with the company. Afterwards, he can land the job on his own. That's the least you can do.

 

[The Godfather]

No youre not being a dick. Period.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: RGN

Originally posted by: mundane
I disagree. You identified a potential conflict of interest, and took precautions to avoid it.

bingo. The others that disagree don't have any real world work experience and if they do, they've not learned anything.

??? Do YOU have management experience? I've had friends directly report to me and also friends who've directly reported to one of my subordinates. If they are qualified for a job and they are a friend you should absolutely try to help them get a job. I Know that my friends value my friendship enough to not want me to look bad for helping them out. Additionally, MANY companies offer bonuses to employees who recommend new hires that make it past their 90 day reviews. Why? Because people generally associate with others like themselves. If the company values your skills and abilities (including those non-technical qualities such as honesty etc) then it is likely that your friends will possess similar qualities.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

I'm going to disagree here... If your friend sucked at computers and wanted an IT job, for example, I sure as hell wouldn't recommend him for a position in my department. Not only would he make me look bad for recommending him, but I'd end up having to fix his mistakes when he screwed up. Not to mention that he'd probably end up getting fired eventually, and become unemployed once again because of my "help". Now THAT is a good way to ruin a friendship.

His friend asked him to help find him A job, not his job. The OP states that he works for a VERY large company, I'm betting that they have positions ranging from janitor to exec. Many times all you need to do is get your foot in the door. I know a lot of people (myself included) that have started at tier 1 tech support and worked their way up (myself through the sys admin and dba groups then onto upper management before starting my own firm)

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: Feldenak
As long as he doesn't use you in his network, eh?

Networking involves meeting and making contacts with people in industries you are interested in to get a feel for the company and what it's all about.

It doesn't mean call all your friends and ask them to help you get a job with them

This makes no sense. I can't even tell you how many times I've called up friends that work at companies to help with bids by mentioning my name to the people in charge. Wanna know something else? We've won more bids and made more money because of this. If a company has to choose between two identical bids from companies with very similar abilities, they're going to choose the one an employee recommends every time.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

I'm going to disagree here... If your friend sucked at computers and wanted an IT job, for example, I sure as hell wouldn't recommend him for a position in my department. Not only would he make me look bad for recommending him, but I'd end up having to fix his mistakes when he screwed up. Not to mention that he'd probably end up getting fired eventually, and become unemployed once again because of my "help". Now THAT is a good way to ruin a friendship.

His friend asked him to help find him A job, not his job. The OP states that he works for a VERY large company, I'm betting that they have positions ranging from janitor to exec. Many times all you need to do is get your foot in the door. I know a lot of people (myself included) that have started at tier 1 tech support and worked their way up (myself through the sys admin and dba groups then onto upper management before starting my own firm)

He would want a managment position. His background is mechanical engineering (like me); we met in school.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

pulling strings to get friends and family employment usually ends up haunting you later on. good call on avaoiding it.

 

[chrisms]

There are too many unknown factors here to make a concrete argument either way. How unqualified is the friend? How good of a friend? How apparent would the OP's connection to the friend be, thus tying his reputation to his friend's performance? How much pull does the OP have?

I agree in the separation of friends and business. If someone asks you to hook them up with a job, it should be completely acceptable for you to say no, for whatever reason. There is too much on the line and to ask for that kind of favor is to be ready to accept no as a response. If your friend helps you out, great, but he is under no obligation to do so.

 

[novasatori]

Originally posted by: Stunt
So my good friend from university has been job hunting for 9-10 months...

this is the key
if no one else wants him why would you want to recommend him

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

I'm going to disagree here... If your friend sucked at computers and wanted an IT job, for example, I sure as hell wouldn't recommend him for a position in my department. Not only would he make me look bad for recommending him, but I'd end up having to fix his mistakes when he screwed up. Not to mention that he'd probably end up getting fired eventually, and become unemployed once again because of my "help". Now THAT is a good way to ruin a friendship.

His friend asked him to help find him A job, not his job. The OP states that he works for a VERY large company, I'm betting that they have positions ranging from janitor to exec. Many times all you need to do is get your foot in the door. I know a lot of people (myself included) that have started at tier 1 tech support and worked their way up (myself through the sys admin and dba groups then onto upper management before starting my own firm)

He would want a managment position. His background is mechanical engineering (like me); we met in school.

Tell him beggars can't be choosers. He's unemployed and has 1 year work experience and no management experience. What does he expect he can just walk in the door with his diploma and get a corner office and 10 people directly under him? I'm definitely not saying that you should try to get him a job he will fail at, but helping him get his foot in the door can't hurt.


/edit it always astounds me how much weight some people place on their degrees. I'd much rather hire someone with 4 years of work experience and no degree than someone with a 4 year degree and no work experience. Our (unwritten) policy is minimum of 3 years work experience in the field for technical managers and 5 years in the field for upper level managers.

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: RGN

Originally posted by: mundane
I disagree. You identified a potential conflict of interest, and took precautions to avoid it.

bingo. The others that disagree don't have any real world work experience and if they do, they've not learned anything.

Absolutely. Stunt, I think you're doing the right thing. :thumbsup:

 

[xtknight]

Perfectly reasonable. Any more and you'd be committing nepotism. I as a friend would perfectly understand the implications, and if I wanted the job and he'd help me, I would not have a problem receiving strong criticism from him while at the same time remaining his friend.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: spidey07
You're absolutely being a dick.

If a "friend" ever did that to me I would no longer be his friend.

You are only seeing this from your own self-centered world/point of view.

I'm going to disagree here... If your friend sucked at computers and wanted an IT job, for example, I sure as hell wouldn't recommend him for a position in my department. Not only would he make me look bad for recommending him, but I'd end up having to fix his mistakes when he screwed up. Not to mention that he'd probably end up getting fired eventually, and become unemployed once again because of my "help". Now THAT is a good way to ruin a friendship.

His friend asked him to help find him A job, not his job. The OP states that he works for a VERY large company, I'm betting that they have positions ranging from janitor to exec. Many times all you need to do is get your foot in the door. I know a lot of people (myself included) that have started at tier 1 tech support and worked their way up (myself through the sys admin and dba groups then onto upper management before starting my own firm)

He would want a managment position. His background is mechanical engineering (like me); we met in school.

Tell him beggars can't be choosers. He's unemployed and has 1 year work experience and no management experience. What does he expect he can just walk in the door with his diploma and get a corner office and 10 people directly under him? I'm definitely not saying that you should try to get him a job he will fail at, but helping him get his foot in the door can't hurt.


/edit it always astounds me how much weight some people place on their degrees. I'd much rather hire someone with 4 years of work experience and no degree than someone with a 4 year degree and no work experience. Our (unwritten) policy is minimum of 3 years work experience in the field for technical managers and 5 years in the field for upper level managers.

You should really be blunt and tell him straight up what this guy just posted. In your own words of course but you get the general idea.

 

[imported_Imp]

No problem with what you did, actually a very good idea for both you and him. Otherwise, you'd have to worry about him doing poorly, and destroying your reputation. Him, if he cares, would have to worry about not doing poorly in order to not disappoint the boss or you and everyone else he knew. Had to go through this slightly with my first job, not only did I have to worry about supervisors/coworkers, but the person who helped get me the job kept bitching at me at everything I didn't do perfectly. Thank god I finally bailed out of that dump.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: axelfox
No, you are not. If he sucks, then it's your reputatation on the line.

QFT


You can help him get a foot in to have his application looked at a bit more, but other than that, you'd be setting yourself up for drama down the road.

 

[talyn00]

Nothing wrong with what you did.

There are some friends I wouldn't help to get a job, simply because they are bums that don't make any effort on their own to find a job, so why should I help them?

 

[Shortcut]

if he's looking for work in a different department, then its simple: help the guy land an interview, and leave it at that.

how well he performs is entirely up to him. and if he gets hired and sucks, its won't look badly on you, cause you didn't hire him!