To worry about favouritism after helping a friend get hired?

but now I’m worried about the implications of favouritism and whether it might impact my career

personally i read that to mean the company find out and for trouble to follow, alongside worries about how she is perceived in the team

we shall never know i suspect! 😆

“to worry about”

presumably the consequence of which (which is what the Op is concerned about), would be to get in to trouble?

No she didn’t ask if she will get in trouble?

ok so the op is asking whether she might get in trouble

if her answer to my question was… my “insights” were definitely nothing that the company would be bothered about me sharing…. then id be saying “relax op!”

if her answer was “i believe my insights did infringe what would be regarded as reasonable information to share outside of the organisation”… then i wouldn’t be saying “relax op”. I’d be saying a) ensure you and your friend remain friends! and don’t share similar “insights” in future

clear?

What’s the point of this question? They got the job so now would know anyway and it’s still not favouritism,

tbh @MrSeptember i only scan read your post

im interested in the… OP

but… tumbleweed!

OP… be honest, the “insights” you shared, do you think that would squarely fall within the realms of what your company would think is completely reasonable to share with a friend?

no i didn’t

i said “OP” clearly

You asked if I think it falls into realm of what my company would be comfortable with. I said yes, I do.

But even if you asked if the third parties would be, my answer would still be yes. I was pretty senior, now work as a consultant at a pretty high level so feel very comfortable in my understanding of what is and is not appropriate.

yes you would

but i wasn’t asking you! 😆

Yes, I would feel completely and 100% comfortable. And I see "insights" as being more about opinions based on skills and experience. Just like I asked my friend in recruitment to review my CV based on HER skills and experience - doesn't mean her review is going to 100% meet the criteria of the place I was applying to, but I value her insights.

When I worked in banking, what WOULD be inappropriate, for example, would be to say something like, "We had to let most of his team go for gross incompetence and he needs to hire fast" as clearly that's confidential information. But I could say, "look, he needs to hire rapidly as he's under resourced and he's specifically worried about x or y tasks" and that would be absolutely fine and would allow my friend to tailor her answers accordingly eg if she has experience at x, y AND z, she chooses to emphasise x and y in the interview or her CV.

no where does the op say either she or her friend are women

she refers to the friend as “them”

“insights” would indicate not available to the public

OP… be honest, the “insights” you shared, do you think that would squarely fall within the realms of what your company would think is completely reasonable to share with a friend?

Unless it's confidential information regarding financials or business strategy, that's rubbish. I regularly get calls from people asking me if I have insight into person A who I used to work with or company Y which I know through my work because the person calling me is applying for a job, or pitching for business. I might say that Person A has a really big team so is looking for people who are team players and can collaborate effectively or I might say that Company Y has been restructured 3 times in the lat 18 months so that's created some flux. None of those are big secrets and would be similar information I'd provide if I actually worked with or for these people/companies.

This is part of the reason women struggle. We are constantly terrified that just helping someone, or providing leverage, or calling in favours is deeply problematic.

Only women worry about this. Men consider this completely normal part of business and networking.

It would be inappropriate (albeit something men have been doing forever) if you had influenced the hiring decision in the form of, for example, applying pressure to the hiring team to hire her over a better candidate. Nothing you did is inappropriate, assuming you didn't share confidential information.

these “insights”

if not publicly available then you were passing on info that you have no right to

bloody hell op

yes, i would be concerned if i were you

It’s not favouritism , the op has no authority so then she didn’t show favouritism. It wasn’t like she personally had a list of the other candidates and decided to put her friend forward only or was in a position to help anyone else. She’s only a colleague and a mate, she did a referral and helped her mate. There is no favouritism as she isn’t in charge nor was anyone else asking her to help them out, or in a position to help anyone else.

op, are you regretting it now, you don’t want your friend there? What you’re writing makes no sense.

This is a totally normal thing to do OP, you’re worrying over nothing.

What would have been inappropriate would have been to influence the hiring decision directly.

well It is favoritism as I’m guessing you didn’t do the same for any of the other candidates.
Unless you’re on the hiring team, it’s not a negative thing though, loads of companies run referral schemes. The one time I did it I got paid £500 on completion of probation period. My last employer would pay £1000 per successful referral. It’s really common.
don’t worry about it.

That’s what a lot of companies have recommendation channels for, it’s no different from a recruiter giving advice you’re worrying about nothing. The team will think nothing as it really is a nothing situation.

If you don’t manage this person how can you show them favouritism?

I recommended a friends daughter for a job once, she was bone idle, called in sick more in her probation than the ready of the team in the whole year. Needless to say they let her go and I was mortified. Never again!

How can it be seen as favouritism, you need to be in a position of authority for that to apply? I’m sorry but it’s hard to fathom.

Are you going to be in this person's line management chain?

If not, how will you be in a position to show favouritism?