Expert: Timmy Chou - 1/8/2007

Question
Hello,

I'm not sure if this fits into this category or not, but I'll give it a shot.

I was having a discussion with a friend and started talking about a mutual friend of ours that is interviewing for posistion in a company. Well, we got into the argument of nepotisim and I was hoping you would know which one of us is right.

First, I dont believe this is nepotisim. My friends uncle is a supervisor in one of the departments of this business. He told her about a posistion, outside of his department, that she may be interested in. So she applied and has an interview. Now the Uncle doesnt work in the same department, doesnt have anything to do with the hiring, and she will not be reporting to him.

Is that nepotism? I dont believe just because her uncle works in the same building it is nepotism. Especially when he has nothing to do with her as far as hiring, deciding, or being in authority over her. My understanding is that it has to be a person in power that directly hires or appoints his/her relative.

Am I wrong?

Thanks for the help

Answer
Thank you for your question!

Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own settlement.

This is not a question about mediation but I can respond to your question from my business consulting experience.

The answer is no, this is not nepotism, this is networking.  

The truth is that three out of five jobs are found through networking -- and most are never posted or advertised.  

Technically, even if the Uncle was the immediate supervisor and also told the friend about the job, if the hiring procedure was completely based on the merits and impartial it would not be nepotism.

Nepotism occurs when a relative hires or promotes someone BECAUSE of the familial tie and not because of any merit, or over those in the line.  

If you believe the "seven degrees of separation" theory, we are all pretty much tied together anyway!

Good Luck.