That's not a very smart system. Lots of time wasted and they've probably created discoverable records of the process. If someone sues for discrimination and they get documentation that more panel members recommended them, they may have a case. If this is private sector they can hire whomever they want anyway so this process seems counterintuitive.

That said, the guys are there now, so give them a chance. Some nepo hires turn out fine.

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it - why does the EVP have such an interest in helping his son's lacrosse buddies? I can see helping out the mediocre kids of a business associate in order to get a favor, but I just don't get this situation. Does he think his kid will like him more if he helps out the buddies?

He knows that kids like this: with stamina, attitude, connections, finesse, hard-work ethic, do well in the field. Pansies who complain about stuff like this do not. OP: you should just be in a different field and probably should have done some more research. I do think you're a troll, but if not, it's really on you. People are free to hire who they like, as they're not discriminating against protected classes. Period.

Life is really about networking and making contacts.

Also, why bother with 5 interview panels? We're cutting them down in most cases because it just isn't an efficient way to hire in terms of time or signal. The 2 people who suggested hire might have been judging the most important areas.

When you say more qualified, do you mean on paper now? You want to be projecting forward when making hiring decisions too. Networking helps but hiring decisions are also not about hiring the best person for the next 3-6 months. Leaders are looking to build benches. You do want them to look beyond where they went to school though. There are plenty of other proxies for competence.

D1 athletes always get jobs in the state they played sports in. It doesn't matter their academics.

A lot of the D1 athletes get hired on by the car dealers.

Our hiring committees and business leaders review interviewer ratings and suggestions all the time and can disagree in both directions. This isn't shocking.

Networking is so important. Let's just be honest that most people will be fine in the actual roles. "More qualified" is in the eye of the beholder. If the SVP thought the hires could actually damage the company (and him/her), they wouldn't tip the scale.

I had an executive boss who would only interview candidates from his alma mater and would hire them over more qualified candidates from less prestigious schools, sadly I think this happens all of the time

I don't get it - why does the EVP have such an interest in helping his son's lacrosse buddies? I can see helping out the mediocre kids of a business associate in order to get a favor, but I just don't get this situation. Does he think his kid will like him more if he helps out the buddies?

I'm sorry OP. We all know things like this happen, but it's nauseating when we have to participate in it.

That IS depressing.

News flash: high paying jobs are always about who you know! Networking is the best advice you can give to jobseekers.

This gives me hope as the parent of a D1 athlete but mediocre student

I had to onboard two new employees and they were selected over ten other more qualified candidates. All ten candidates had to go through five different in-person interviews, on the same day, and they were selected for the positions even though only two people recommended them for the positions while the other three rejected them outright. The other ten candidates all received at least three recommendations and three candidates received all five recommendations for hiring. However, the decision came from an evp to override the recommendation of the interview panel and hired those two least qualified candidates because they were his son lacrosse's buddies in college. These are high salary paying jobs and I want them to go to the most qualified candidates but it didn't happen. I noticed the same hiring pattern in my finance industry that it is not about what you know but who you know. My wife jokingly told me that I should train my eight years old son to become a future D1 athlete. There is some truth to that.