HR view?

[Middlechild3]

I've recently been to two assessment days for two different jobs at the same organisation. Whilst waiting us candidates got chatting and it transpired the 5 other candidates I spoke to was either the sister of, the daughter of, a next door neighbour of, or in two instances the wives of people already employed by the place and doing the same role we were going for. I get that they would have had help with the application and prep for the assessment but 3 of the 5 had no relevant experience. To be fair that's not a huge issue as the assessment tests aptitude. It just all seemed very incestuous. Would HR and recruitment not think this an issue or is it seen as a positive thing for a business? It just felt the odds are stacked against outsiders when it's like this. (Not sour grapes, I failed for one role but passed for the other). It also must be a common scenario as I got asked who I knew by 2 separate staff members helping with the assessments. Any views?

Nepotism at its best!

This is really common and a lot of companies offer quite good incentives to staff who refer a friend/ family member

It was an external recruitment drive. 3 of the 5 I spoke to had no relevant experience. They had to sit the same tests as everyone. Wheres the benefit other than probably getting the best prep via relatives doing the role.........

Typically with employee referral incentives, they only get paid to the referrer if the candidate is successful at interview and passes a probationary period - could be 5/6 months.

in companies I have worked in, if the referrer was involved in the interview process, or in signing off on the probation, they would not be eligible for the referral bonus; and senior managers weren’t eligible to be paid a referral bonus at all.

it’s not always nepotism, but that’s not to say it doesn’t ever happen

It's not nepotism to apply. Nor to use your resources to have the best chance.

If you know someone in a business, then they may well suggest you apply if there's something that they think you might enjoy. They'll probably give you some inside knowledge of what it's like working there.
Dh had a son of a friend applying for his firm, and he came round and dh talked him through what the interview process looked like. Dh had no input on the interview or recruitment, so it didn't go into bias there.

Yes they may have had help preparing for the test, but really that's on everyone to make sure that they're prepared. If you'd known someone who had done the job, you'd probably have asked them for their experience/advice too.

No I agree and I've worked for a large organisation where it's common too, it's just that in this instance it felt like it was excessive. I was asking for the view of HR people here because, ok one or two relatives here and there come into the business, but after a point its a bit like a business inbreeding. If connections keep 'telling how it is' then surely the business and culture is static, self perpetuating. Fresh blood and views and new experience is more likely to bring a refresh and change. Curious as to HR views. It also seems a bit unimaginative and dutiful if offspring, spouses etc just try to follow a parent/spouse into the same organisation, after all there are a million different occupations out there.