kevinUsa Posted January 29 Report Posted January 29 Just got off a meeting with a new hire and was flabbergasted how unskilled the worker was. Talked around and it turns out she's someone in the department's wife. This is like the 6th person I know that was hired because the person is a "friend or family" of an employee. All of them from India. If they are skilled, I'd have no issues, but we have rejected several better candidates for these people. Coming in with highly suspicious resumes. They need to be "trained" or "walked through" on pretty much everything. Rating their web development skill at a 9/10 and not knowing what a database is not acceptable. Why did we layoff skilled workers... :*( Lunch cafeteria looks more like a Mean Girls cafeteria than the Silicon Valley show. Sorry just a bay area rant... 1 Quote
kevinUsa Posted January 29 Author Report Posted January 29 chief-dvrsty-officer • 1y ago who you know > what you know Upvote 551 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share ErbinSmith OP • 1y ago Kind of explains how companies like Google stopped innovating. They used to hire people for what they can contribute. Upvote 242 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share black-kramer • 1y ago it happens to almost every successful company and I don't think it has as much to do with nepotism as size. they get really big and bureaucracy is a natural result. code and product complexity is a natural result. ownership of projects includes more and more stakeholders. stability is desired vs. breaking things and reinventing the wheel. the machine necessarily slows down to preserve itself and make investors happy. Upvote 144 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/miyori avatar miyori • 1y ago The size problem also feeds into monopoly issues. Buy out competitors (which was working while the FTC was schmoozing with big business), acquire vertical supply lines (eg pharmacy benefit managers), squeeze suppliers (aka monopsony like Amazon). R&D is costly, so it's one of the first things to slash once they reach market saturation. They'd rather poach people and steal algorithms from their next best competitor, such as Apple vs Masimo (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/apple-fights-to-block-masimos-new-watch-on-heels-of-import-ban) Upvote 26 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share black-kramer • 1y ago doesn’t hurt that the big companies offer hefty exit packages for that knowledge. unless I was confident I was onto some paradigm shifting technology, I’d do the same thing, frankly. Upvote 6 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 2 more replies BlaxicanX • 1y ago Companies like Google stopped innovating because the natural consequence of publicly traded companies is that line must go up every 3 months and so with innovation having diminishing returns it becomes easier to just the customer and find ways to cut costs then to continuously put out a better product. This is going to be a shock to some people but the majority of mom and pop businesses are nepotistic. What is a "family-owned business" (something Americans famously adore) if not the definition of nepotism in action? Upvote 114 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/badtux99 avatar badtux99 • 1y ago Well, I work in one of those mom and pop businesses, and yes, the son of the VP of Engineering is a programmer here, and the daughter of the CEO is a sales manager here. But both are very good at their jobs because we can't afford to have deadweight here. The programmer graduated from Cal Tech (which is one of the heavyweights in engineering), the daughter started out as office manager and worked her way up by being good at her job. Most of the sons and daughters of company founders did not end up working in the company, either because their skills were not skills the company needed or because they went on to do other things, but nepotism provided a pool of talent that didn't require paying a recruiter and was helpful at getting the company started. It's only these big companies that can afford to hire incompetents via nepotism. Upvote 30 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 5 more replies u/the_mighty_skeetadon avatar the_mighty_skeetadon • 1y ago Eh, Google is not really nepotistic -- only in exceptionally rare cases, in my experience as someone who has worked for Google for almost 10 years. However, the incentives for executives to spend their headcount on more executives are very strong, and the executives they hire are frequently absolutely useless or otherwise bad. This trickles down to teams and makes them inefficient because you always have to be reorging in order to fit the power politics du jour, etc. The entire company needs to be about shipping products and making awesome things for users -- focus on the user, and all else will follow. If we can return to that ethos, Google is still great at its core. Upvote 43 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share crabsock • 1y ago Ya, I've also been at Google for 8+ years and I don't think I've ever met someone who works in the same department as a family member or anything like that. If anything I hear way more stories about how referrals are virtually worthless these days. Upvote 20 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 6 more replies 8 more replies 6 more replies u/Earl-The-Badger avatar Earl-The-Badger • 1y ago First time? This is always how it’s been, and not only in tech or the Bay Area. It’s especially prominent here though. Upvote 940 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/CasperLenono avatar CasperLenono • 1y ago Welcome to the world, unfortunately. Cant think there’s many spheres of life where nepotism isn’t a thing. Upvote 214 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/Most_Researcher_9675 avatar Most_Researcher_9675 • 1y ago True dat. Humans being human... Upvote 39 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/mayor-water avatar mayor-water • 1y ago George HW Bush...George W Bush Pierre Trudeau...Justin Trudeau Upvote 41 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 5 more replies TheLGMac • 1y ago Yes, I can tell you after a decade in the Bay Area and now overseas, it's everywhere. And unfortunately many family members expect it so even if you are a good person who doesn't believe in nepotism, you'll probably pay the price at home. I once told my sister no when she asked for me to refer her to the directors of a few companies I worked at in the bay, and I said no because I didn't feel confident referring her lack of experience. She continues to hold a grudge about it. Upvote 34 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/Oakroscoe avatar Oakroscoe • 1y ago You did the right thing. I’ll happily put in a good word for someone who’s going to do a good job, but there’s no way I’m vouching for someone who isn’t capable of doing the job Upvote 22 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 1 more reply Rhythmalist • 1y ago Exactly. In other news, the sky is blue and water is wet. Proceed accordingly. Upvote 113 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 1 more reply Precarious314159 • 1y ago Right? Back when I worked for the County, they hired someone on as deputy director and the next 6 positions that were open, they were all filled by people the new deputy worked with from another County. Someone literally went from an entry-level position to running a branch after four months. I just accept that anyone that's at their job just knows someone. Upvote 49 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/Most_Researcher_9675 avatar Most_Researcher_9675 • 1y ago The film 'Being There' with Peter Sellars, suddenly comes to mind... Upvote 9 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share Jbeezy2-0 • 1y ago Can relate, seen so many people promoted to positions supervising people who have no prior supervisoral experience and have no knowledge of what their employees do. Its a morale killer. Upvote 8 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 1 more reply u/oscarbearsf avatar oscarbearsf • 1y ago Especially prominent in the indian community as well. Have heard that they are pretty against others in lower castes too Upvote 324 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share spike021 • 1y ago My ex coworkers explained to me they can tell each other apart by names or skin tone. Sometimes Indians apparently will even change their names to avoid those connotations but that doesn't always work. It's nuts. Upvote 183 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/AttentionFar8731 avatar AttentionFar8731 • 1y ago holy crap I have Indian co-workers who say the same, they're blatant about discriminating against their fellow Indians based on caste I think they know none of us are aware enough to do anything about it, and when we've tried (Newsom vetoed a law) they claim we're discriminating against their culture lol Upvote 114 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share lupinegray • 1y ago Their argument just boggles the mind. "The anti caste-discrimination bill is anti-hindu because only Hindus will be punished by it" Yeah, genius. That's because only Hindus are discriminating against lower castes. Upvote 104 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/hozen17 avatar hozen17 • 1y ago So is it like "the anti-racism bill is anti-white because only whites will be punished by it" speaking in 1960s terms? lol Upvote 18 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share VoidVer • 1y ago That’s exactly how reported on KCRW explained the resistance to the bill actually Upvote 10 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 7 more replies u/GeneralAvocados avatar GeneralAvocados • 1y ago Not just their culture, their religion as well. That said, insofar as their culture and religion are defined by class based discrimination it's contrary to America's core values and laws. Culture and religious based discrimination is and should remain. Upvote 38 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 29 more replies NorCalAthlete • 1y ago Yeah, because then if you’ve changed your name it indicates a reason for changing it anyway. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t for them. Upvote 16 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 14 more replies 9 more replies chocolatestealth • 1y ago It's bad enough that there was a bill introduced last year to ban caste discrimination in California. Newsom vetoed it though for being "unnecessary"... Upvote 122 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/luquoo avatar luquoo • 1y ago Didnt realize he vetoed it. Was the argument that caste discrimination was already banned or something? Or did he just cave to pressure from the upper castes. Upvote 19 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share TheLGMac • 1y ago My understanding was that (a) it's already protected by existing civil rights legislation and (b) there was concern that it was too racially targeted and would formally mention in law a concept that is not a recognized US federal or state societal structure (castes). Upvote 27 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share darkslide3000 • 1y ago and would formally mention in law a concept that is not a recognized US federal or state societal structure (castes). Isn't that the point? This is a problem that the US didn't really have to deal with back when anti-discrimination laws were originally designed, but now that it becomes more prominent it absolutely should be enshrined right next to all the other protected categories. Upvote 9 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 4 more replies 25 more replies u/SeaChele27 avatar SeaChele27 • 1y ago Profile Badge for the Achievement Top 1% Commenter Top 1% Commenter Right. There's a reason why "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is a common saying. Upvote 20 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share [deleted] • 1y ago 8 more replies retro_dabble • 1y ago • Edited 1y ago I’m at a small startup that literally has the founder’s daughter in the company. And several other employees/interns are students of his wife at the local university. Crazy… Upvote 181 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share Naramie • 1y ago My previous company was this way. CEO's son was an intern for a couple months while he was in high school. He didn't do anything other than shadow his dad and sit in on team meetings. He later went to college and got his MBA. After getting his MBA, his dad brought him on as a VP. To this day I have no idea what the guy actually did aside from follow his dad around, sit in on meetings, and collect a big paycheck. Upvote 92 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/MidnightPopular7324 avatar MidnightPopular7324 • 1y ago Is this the plot from Succession? 😆 in all seriousness though, nepotism at its finest for sure Upvote 56 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/papasmurf255 avatar papasmurf255 • 1y ago peninsula Isn't that what most vps do? 😂 Upvote 22 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share left-nostril • 1y ago If I ever see a company with a high schooler “interning” there, im going to hard pass on that place, when there’s more than enough qualified university students for that position. This goes for EVERY field. I’m an industrial designer, a company I wanted to intern at had “no open internship positions”. But had a high schooler interning there. Like near rediculous. Upvote 15 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 5 more replies u/Princess_Fluffypants avatar Princess_Fluffypants • 1y ago One of the secretary/office managers at my day job is the CTO’s daughter. TBH she’s not bad at her job, perfectly competent and easy to get along with. So it’s not really a problem, but it is common in every industry. We’ve seen plenty of employees kids cycle through here for internships as well. Upvote 27 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share u/GeneralAvocados avatar GeneralAvocados • 1y ago Secretary/office managers and interns are pretty low on the totem pole. I find that to be more tolerable than people getting rapid raises and promotions based on personal connections. How they got in the door is less important than how they perform and the rewards they earn or did not earn. Upvote 27 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share PM_ME_C_CODE • 1y ago Newark It's how I got my first internship. Of course, my dad forced me to put down a false name on my resume and answer to it during the interview. The HR lady knew what was going on, but the guy I ended up working under didn't know I was a VP's kid until like week-2 when my dad got back from a business trip. It just so happened that I didn't have any competition. But the web-guy wanted an intern during intern-season so help with some menial upkeep tasks while he worked on re-building something. ...and I got to work in an air-conditioned office and have lunch with my father 5 days a week for $9/hour during the summer instead of going back to McDonalds or mowing lawns...again. Upvote 7 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share CleanLivingBoi • 1y ago All in the family. No different from those mom and pop restaurants where everyone working there was related somehow. Except this is high tech and that was food. Upvote 27 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 1 more reply 11 more replies theineffablebob • 1y ago Has always been common. I’ve seen entire teams made up of people who grew up in the same city in a different country Upvote 284 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share bigheadasian1998 • 1y ago Cough cough india Upvote 245 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share shnieder88 • 1y ago so much so that there's lawsuits going on about racism from desi staff towards other people lol Upvote 99 Downvote Reply reply Award Share Share 1 more reply Fur1nr • 1y ago I never really encountered this having been in Bay Area tech for the past few years until I interviewed with a certain industry leading big box retailer. They were/are hiring like crazy, I interviewed for 5 different roles and made it to various rounds, probably interviewed with 15 different people, but there was 0 diversity in the hiring panel. Literally everyone was an Indian male who came over in the past 5-6 years. It was honestly mind blowing. Quote
Polavaram Posted January 29 Report Posted January 29 4 minutes ago, kevinUsa said: Coming in with highly suspicious resumes. They need to be "trained" or "walked through" on pretty much everything. Rating their web development skill at a 9/10 and not knowing what a database is not acceptable. scene baaga pandindhi ane lopala ikkada kottindhi sceenaa Quote
enigmatic Posted January 29 Report Posted January 29 mostly bullshit. I've done hiring at a couple FAANG companies and our interview feedback would be stripped of any gendered language and then the feedback from the 5 random interviewers would be sent to a hiring committee who never interacted with the candidate. Race and gender might help you get an interview (recruiters might be filtering for it on LinkedIn) but they have absolutely no bearing on whether or not you get the job. On the committee we don't have access to that information Quote
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