minoanmiss (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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agonyaunt2025-03-21 02:53 pm
minoanmiss) wrote in agonyaunt2025-03-21 02:53 pm
Entry tags:
Good Job: My Boss Wants Me to Interview His Completely Inept Son for Our Department.
This can’t be happening. Dear Good Job,
My boss wants me to interview his dunce of a son for a job in my department. How can I get out of this without jeopardizing my own position?
—Don’t Make Me Responsible
Dear Don’t Make Me,
Oh, you are in a pickle. If it’s any consolation, this ordeal will make you the prohibitive favorite next time you’re in a “Who Has the Best Bad Boss Story” contest.
Any well-run workplace should have clear policies prohibiting nepotism. And a big enough workplace should have a human resources department that helps process job applications and ensure that the hiring process is fair and equitable. If—and it’s a big if—you are in such an organization, you could loop in HR to handle the problem since it would be squarely their responsibility. You could do that directly with your boss: “Thanks for recommending Dunce Son. Rich in HR is partnering with us on this hire, so let’s ask him to review the application materials.” Or you can do it more subtly, by forwarding the son’s resume to HR and asking them if they want to set up an interview, and acting surprised when they refuse to do so because he doesn’t meet the basic requirements listed in the job description. Even if your workplace is fine with nepotism, it should have conflict of interest policies, and your boss pushing his Dunce Son on his direct report is clearly a conflict of interest. Again, if you have a human resources department, make it their responsibility to enforce the organization’s rules.
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But let’s be realistic. A lot of professions and organizations don’t have or don’t enforce basic ethical guidelines. Plus powerful people find all kinds of ways to give their kids advantages (just ask a nepo baby). Given that your boss is unethical enough to use his influence to try to get his Dunce Son an undeserved interview, he would probably use his influence to retaliate against you if you refuse. Don’t trust this guy.
It might feel like the safest, if most nauseating, option to just go through with the interview. That option avoids an immediate showdown with your boss. But you’d just be kicking the confrontation down the line. If Dunce Son doesn’t get the job, he will blame you for any real or perceived failures during the interview and urge your boss to retaliate against you, since I’m sure he learned that sort of unethical behavior at home. Worse, you might be pressured to hire him and be stuck with a Dunce Direct Report.
You can find out more about your boss and your workplace by setting some boundaries. You could agree to the interview as an exercise: “Boss, I see that Dunce Son isn’t as qualified as our other applicants and so wouldn’t get the job. Would you like him to go through an interview as practice?” Or you can tell your boss that you’ve seen the research, and it often backfires if someone gets a job at a parent’s workplace. Colleagues resent the nepo hire, and future employers assume they were unqualified for the job. If you’re feeling courageous and have the freedom to walk away from an unethical boss, you could give him a chance to do the right thing: “I appreciate you bringing Dunce Son to my attention, but I’m concerned that it would be unethical/unprofessional/disruptive/awkward/improper [take your pick] to have him report through me to you.” But keep your expectations low, and good luck finding a better boss next time.
My boss wants me to interview his dunce of a son for a job in my department. How can I get out of this without jeopardizing my own position?
—Don’t Make Me Responsible
Dear Don’t Make Me,
Oh, you are in a pickle. If it’s any consolation, this ordeal will make you the prohibitive favorite next time you’re in a “Who Has the Best Bad Boss Story” contest.
Any well-run workplace should have clear policies prohibiting nepotism. And a big enough workplace should have a human resources department that helps process job applications and ensure that the hiring process is fair and equitable. If—and it’s a big if—you are in such an organization, you could loop in HR to handle the problem since it would be squarely their responsibility. You could do that directly with your boss: “Thanks for recommending Dunce Son. Rich in HR is partnering with us on this hire, so let’s ask him to review the application materials.” Or you can do it more subtly, by forwarding the son’s resume to HR and asking them if they want to set up an interview, and acting surprised when they refuse to do so because he doesn’t meet the basic requirements listed in the job description. Even if your workplace is fine with nepotism, it should have conflict of interest policies, and your boss pushing his Dunce Son on his direct report is clearly a conflict of interest. Again, if you have a human resources department, make it their responsibility to enforce the organization’s rules.
Advertisement
But let’s be realistic. A lot of professions and organizations don’t have or don’t enforce basic ethical guidelines. Plus powerful people find all kinds of ways to give their kids advantages (just ask a nepo baby). Given that your boss is unethical enough to use his influence to try to get his Dunce Son an undeserved interview, he would probably use his influence to retaliate against you if you refuse. Don’t trust this guy.
It might feel like the safest, if most nauseating, option to just go through with the interview. That option avoids an immediate showdown with your boss. But you’d just be kicking the confrontation down the line. If Dunce Son doesn’t get the job, he will blame you for any real or perceived failures during the interview and urge your boss to retaliate against you, since I’m sure he learned that sort of unethical behavior at home. Worse, you might be pressured to hire him and be stuck with a Dunce Direct Report.
You can find out more about your boss and your workplace by setting some boundaries. You could agree to the interview as an exercise: “Boss, I see that Dunce Son isn’t as qualified as our other applicants and so wouldn’t get the job. Would you like him to go through an interview as practice?” Or you can tell your boss that you’ve seen the research, and it often backfires if someone gets a job at a parent’s workplace. Colleagues resent the nepo hire, and future employers assume they were unqualified for the job. If you’re feeling courageous and have the freedom to walk away from an unethical boss, you could give him a chance to do the right thing: “I appreciate you bringing Dunce Son to my attention, but I’m concerned that it would be unethical/unprofessional/disruptive/awkward/improper [take your pick] to have him report through me to you.” But keep your expectations low, and good luck finding a better boss next time.
no subject
that was a lot of words to say "you're fucked".
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This is, of course, dependent on your specific boss and how exactly the request was phrased. But it could work.