Help me help him get this job!
June 14, 2010 4:38 PM Subscribe
My uncle is trying to get an interview with a company that counts my lab among its (relatively few) clients. I have a contact within the company who is not in the HR department, nor the department he wants to work in. Realistically, can I help him get an interview/a job?
My uncle, C, is a software engineer. He called me this afternoon asking if I had heard of a company in my field, which I will label E. In fact, I use Company E's incredibly expensive (well, six-figure) equipment daily, and have met one of their support engineers, G, when he came to install another "copy" of this equipment last Fall. I've talked to him a few times via e-mail since then.
My uncle C is an incredibly smart guy, and was really interested in hearing more about the science behind what Company E does, but I really have no idea of his professional capabilities as a programmer. Plus, he's been in his field for 20 years, and I've been out of college for barely 3. Still, that's three more years than him that I've been dealing with this type of research equipment.
My question is this: how can I help? And should I? I guess my contact with G in the past is an "in", but then he'd have to talk to the software developers, or the HR department, and pass along my good words. Plus, C might get an interview without my help, or he might not get one no matter what I do. Also, even though G is a really nice guy, I don't know him that well, and my email would probably start, "Hey, remember me?"
Would the hiring managers among you take the secondhand word from a client about a potential hire? Would any support engineers and other client-oriented types out there be comfortable passing along a recommendation like this?
Thoughts? Other things I'm not considering?
(To be clear, C did not ask me to contact Company E or Mr G on his behalf.)
My uncle, C, is a software engineer. He called me this afternoon asking if I had heard of a company in my field, which I will label E. In fact, I use Company E's incredibly expensive (well, six-figure) equipment daily, and have met one of their support engineers, G, when he came to install another "copy" of this equipment last Fall. I've talked to him a few times via e-mail since then.
My uncle C is an incredibly smart guy, and was really interested in hearing more about the science behind what Company E does, but I really have no idea of his professional capabilities as a programmer. Plus, he's been in his field for 20 years, and I've been out of college for barely 3. Still, that's three more years than him that I've been dealing with this type of research equipment.
My question is this: how can I help? And should I? I guess my contact with G in the past is an "in", but then he'd have to talk to the software developers, or the HR department, and pass along my good words. Plus, C might get an interview without my help, or he might not get one no matter what I do. Also, even though G is a really nice guy, I don't know him that well, and my email would probably start, "Hey, remember me?"
Would the hiring managers among you take the secondhand word from a client about a potential hire? Would any support engineers and other client-oriented types out there be comfortable passing along a recommendation like this?
Thoughts? Other things I'm not considering?
(To be clear, C did not ask me to contact Company E or Mr G on his behalf.)
|Not sure what value you add to the whole thing... Just step out of the way, and perhaps suggest to your uncle (if he hasn't thought of it already) to research the company on LinkedIn and make some cold calls. Due to a number of factors, your involvement only adds entropy to the equation.
Having a contact introduce a job seeker to a hiring manager *can* be helpful, but introductions are entirely overrated as an "inside track" to getting a job. Relationships are more important, and relationships can only be cultivated over time.
Introductions, on the other hand, are inherently risky. How does your contact know that your uncle is not a complete loon? If he is (and I am not saying he is, but there is no way for your contact to know that), it's a really dangerous situation, because not only will your contact's social capital be seriously depleted if s/he introduces your uncle to a decision-maker, your social capital will be too.
In fact, making introductions is always risky, and is always somewhat stressful at a base level.
The best thing to do is for you to ask your contact for advice.
Advice is free, and people love to give it. It also reduces the perceived obligation for your contact to make connections within the company. Your contact can assess during the meeting whether or not your uncle is a loon, and if he makes a favourable impression perhaps your contact will make an intro within the company.
The easiest thing to do is for you to step out of the picture, for your uncle to research the company on LinkedIn, and to start making cold calls.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:53 PM on June 14, 2010
Having a contact introduce a job seeker to a hiring manager *can* be helpful, but introductions are entirely overrated as an "inside track" to getting a job. Relationships are more important, and relationships can only be cultivated over time.
Introductions, on the other hand, are inherently risky. How does your contact know that your uncle is not a complete loon? If he is (and I am not saying he is, but there is no way for your contact to know that), it's a really dangerous situation, because not only will your contact's social capital be seriously depleted if s/he introduces your uncle to a decision-maker, your social capital will be too.
In fact, making introductions is always risky, and is always somewhat stressful at a base level.
The best thing to do is for you to ask your contact for advice.
Advice is free, and people love to give it. It also reduces the perceived obligation for your contact to make connections within the company. Your contact can assess during the meeting whether or not your uncle is a loon, and if he makes a favourable impression perhaps your contact will make an intro within the company.
The easiest thing to do is for you to step out of the picture, for your uncle to research the company on LinkedIn, and to start making cold calls.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:53 PM on June 14, 2010
I think it'd be fine to email G and say that your uncle is interested and applying, and had been asking you questions about their product. Ask G if he has any quick advice on who to contact or recommendations for your uncle in the application process.
It sounds like, due to your positions, neither you nor G would think you were trying to pull strings or get kickbacks; these are just the sort of question people pose while networking.
posted by ldthomps at 5:58 PM on June 14, 2010
It sounds like, due to your positions, neither you nor G would think you were trying to pull strings or get kickbacks; these are just the sort of question people pose while networking.
posted by ldthomps at 5:58 PM on June 14, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks, both, for the insight. Pretty much confirmed what I already thought-- that I'm not really in any position to help.
I should mention that my uncle called me as part of his research on the company; he didn't even know I had any direct experience with them/their product. I explained a bit of the science behind what they do, and helped make a few distinctions between their various offerings. I like to think I helped him have a better interview; I was just wondering if there was anything I can do before he gets to that point.
Asking for information is a good half-measure, I suppose. Would it perhaps be taken as a semi introduction?
posted by supercres at 6:07 PM on June 14, 2010
I should mention that my uncle called me as part of his research on the company; he didn't even know I had any direct experience with them/their product. I explained a bit of the science behind what they do, and helped make a few distinctions between their various offerings. I like to think I helped him have a better interview; I was just wondering if there was anything I can do before he gets to that point.
Asking for information is a good half-measure, I suppose. Would it perhaps be taken as a semi introduction?
posted by supercres at 6:07 PM on June 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Any conversation that begins with "Hey, remember me" is probably not going to get someone a job, unless you're the person at you lab who makes the purchasing decisions (in which case you should clear this with your lab, too--it would look like a kickback).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:56 PM on June 14, 2010