Backhanded, and Backhander
So I went for this interview to be a team/personal assistant at a media company last week, and I was wondering how things turned out. I sent an email to ask, and the hiring manager I interviewed with called me late yesterday afternoon. She was really complimentary and said that she was impressed with my skills and my interview, and I definitely would have been shortlisted, if not for one thing: a lady whom she’d worked with (obviously well) 15 years ago has applied for the job (and was obviously getting it).
Yes, I was slightly angry, but I was polite and thanked her for taking the time to call me and let me know, and told her that of course she could keep my details on file.
A few things have struck me:
1) she didn’t have to tell me that she was impressed with me.
2) she didn’t have to tell me the truth, that she was going to hire someone she’d already worked with.
3) if I were working in media, I wouldn’t want to be a personal assistant 15 years from now.
Just going to prove, yet again, that there is no such things as ‘professionalism,’ or ‘the typical interview/interview process.’ Worst of all, there’s probably no ‘equal opportunity.’
Nepotism is great, when it works in your favour. Otherwise it’s a bit of a bitch.
I’ve often heard that jobs go mostly to friends, family and acquaintences. By the time you see the job listed in the paper it is probably too late. I know I would be more likely to hire a friend than a stranger. It’s the safer bet.
Do you think the American accent has anything to do with it or are people in London used to many accents from around the world?
Comment by Eric Brown — April 9, 2007 @ 8:59 pm
Hm, I’m not sure about ‘the American accent’ thing. I think Londoners are used to having Americans and Canadians here (and though the Canucks will whack you for mis-identifying them as American, they have to admit that we do sound alike).
If I were in the hiring manager position, I’d probably hire someone I know first, too. I know this is something that’s a little bit of a truism and can’t be fought, but as I say, it’s hard when you’re on the wrong end of nepotistic practices.
I think it is true that most jobs go to ‘people you know.’ When one is just carving out a career, like myself, a network is something that takes time to build and nurture. The ‘network’ becomes all the more important in the media/entertainment fields, because ‘everybody wants to do it.’
Comment by london_meeja_whore — April 12, 2007 @ 3:29 am