Why nepotism fails

If you are aspiring for that right job in that great company, with just the right designation and bells and whistles you wanted, then the best way ahead is to try to get that job with your own merit. In case you know people who work there, the biggest mistake would be to ask them to put in a word for you. Here's why.

When you apply for the post, chances are, you may not know the interviewer or your prospective boss. The boss may be the interviewer in most cases. And the boss always wants control of the team, new people, processes and stuff that happen in his team. Now let’s assume you know a senior person in the company, and expect that person to influence the interviewer. If the influence works, then the interviewer loses control of the selection process.

That's what humans don’t like- loss of control; especially the hard-working ones who become bosses because of their own hard work and merit. Hard-working people hate nepotism, by and large. In time, they start hating people who get jobs through contacts only.

Now let's imagine you get the job through influence. Expectations are high, and let’s face it, we are all human and we goof up on simple things. When you do, everyone points at the 'moron' for hiring this idiot! That's when everyone rather wash their hands off the 'poor performer' because past performance was not the factor for selecting the candidate, nepotism was. In time, your abilities and work may be questionable. Even if you are slogging it out, it may be perceived as a show, or just a bad worker putting in more hours to do what a competent person would have finished faster. That's where the damage happens. Whatever you do gets discounted and you become known as someone who got in through pull.

A candidate who comes in without any influence on the interviewer may stand a better chance at getting the job, earning the boss's respect and tolerance for mistakes and room for showing potential. Even if you are the right candidate and the interviewer likes you, do NOT mention who you know in the company, especially higher up. Do that later when you get the job!

Just in case you feel that nepotism helps and that's how you got your job, then your company most probably has a culture of hiring based on relationships and not performance as the main criteria. In that case, you may end up working with a lot of nincompoops, and wonder which idiot hired them. It could be the same guy who hired you in the first place.

Why nepotism fails

If you are aspiring for that right job in that great company, with just the right designation and bells and whistles you wanted, then the best way ahead is to try to get that job with your own merit. In case you know people who work there, the biggest mistake would be to ask them to put in a word for you. Here's why.

When you apply for the post, chances are, you may not know the interviewer or your prospective boss. The boss may be the interviewer in most cases. And the boss always wants control of the team, new people, processes and stuff that happen in his team. Now let’s assume you know a senior person in the company, and expect that person to influence the interviewer. If the influence works, then the interviewer loses control of the selection process.

That's what humans don’t like- loss of control; especially the hard-working ones who become bosses because of their own hard work and merit. Hard-working people hate nepotism, by and large. In time, they start hating people who get jobs through contacts only.

Now let's imagine you get the job through influence. Expectations are high, and let’s face it, we are all human and we goof up on simple things. When you do, everyone points at the 'moron' for hiring this idiot! That's when everyone rather wash their hands off the 'poor performer' because past performance was not the factor for selecting the candidate, nepotism was. In time, your abilities and work may be questionable. Even if you are slogging it out, it may be perceived as a show, or just a bad worker putting in more hours to do what a competent person would have finished faster. That's where the damage happens. Whatever you do gets discounted and you become known as someone who got in through pull.

A candidate who comes in without any influence on the interviewer may stand a better chance at getting the job, earning the boss's respect and tolerance for mistakes and room for showing potential. Even if you are the right candidate and the interviewer likes you, do NOT mention who you know in the company, especially higher up. Do that later when you get the job!

Just in case you feel that nepotism helps and that's how you got your job, then your company most probably has a culture of hiring based on relationships and not performance as the main criteria. In that case, you may end up working with a lot of nincompoops, and wonder which idiot hired them. It could be the same guy who hired you in the first place.

Desi Belly

It's been a while since I got my hands wet with the whole brand-building exercise, typically for start-ups. Since I work full time now with a company, the good ol' days of logo design for clients is a distant memory. The whole exercise of understanding the venture and the entrepreneurial passion that drives it, to getting on the drawing board with the initial scribbles, then finishing off for the marketing material is one selfish, hedonistic journey I can never get enough of. So when a school friend was setting up his own take-home delivery service, designing the logo was an offer I couldn't refuse. I happily put on my logo design apron.

Desi Belly means 'local (Indian) stomach', to translate it literally. This kitchen specializes in chicken and other vegetarian dishes with rotis and salad as accompaniment. The cooking is done in packaged water, so rest assured there. Captain Puneet Singh Lamba, who created Desi Belly, has been sharpening his culinary skills since his army days and has been feeding us his concoctions for the past few years. With a full stomach, I have ever since polished off my plate with whatever was served! If you live in Gurgaon (Haryana, India) do call up Desi Belly on these cell numbers, 8459988888 / 8459088888 for a great meal. Bon Appétit!

Here's how this lovely project started-

..and the menu, monsieur!

Desi Belly

It's been a while since I got my hands wet with the whole brand-building exercise, typically for start-ups. Since I work full time now with a company, the good ol' days of logo design for clients is a distant memory. The whole exercise of understanding the venture and the entrepreneurial passion that drives it, to getting on the drawing board with the initial scribbles, then finishing off for the marketing material is one selfish, hedonistic journey I can never get enough of. So when a school friend was setting up his own take-home delivery service, designing the logo was an offer I couldn't refuse. I happily put on my logo design apron.

Desi Belly means 'local (Indian) stomach', to translate it literally. This kitchen specializes in chicken and other vegetarian dishes with rotis and salad as accompaniment. The cooking is done in packaged water, so rest assured there. Captain Puneet Singh Lamba, who created Desi Belly, has been sharpening his culinary skills since his army days and has been feeding us his concoctions for the past few years. With a full stomach, I have ever since polished off my plate with whatever was served! If you live in Gurgaon (Haryana, India) do call up Desi Belly on these cell numbers, 8459988888 / 8459088888 for a great meal. Bon Appétit!

Here's how this lovely project started-

..and the menu, monsieur!

Chasing an evolving dream

I woke up to a Blackberry wake-up tone called 'Evolving Dream'- a 30 second tone. I was also dreaming at that time. The entire sequence played out like an ad in animated frames on a white plate. The plates kept getting bigger, denoting the meal we earn every day, our growing salaries and aspirations. The ad was about people exasperated over failing projects. All the projects were simulated by their HR training wing. Towards the end, the 'failing subjects' were shown the sequence in which they could see themselves, all recorded and edited. The frames had messages that changed as per the stage everyone was in. I watched this sequence while the alarm got louder in a loop. It played till I woke up.

Waking up to sounds as part of the dream is a common occurrence, with the sounds enmeshed in the dream, inseparable, like a theme. But sometimes it amazes me that the mind can cook up a dream, a string of images so quickly with the sounds that play at that time in the morning. So the duration of the dream was no longer than 30 seconds and the detailing was way too much to recall. This writup is just an overview. How I wish a gadget could record the visuals that play in the head. There's a treasure cove sitting there.

Chasing an evolving dream

I woke up to a Blackberry wake-up tone called 'Evolving Dream'- a 30 second tone. I was also dreaming at that time. The entire sequence played out like an ad in animated frames on a white plate. The plates kept getting bigger, denoting the meal we earn every day, our growing salaries and aspirations. The ad was about people exasperated over failing projects. All the projects were simulated by their HR training wing. Towards the end, the 'failing subjects' were shown the sequence in which they could see themselves, all recorded and edited. The frames had messages that changed as per the stage everyone was in. I watched this sequence while the alarm got louder in a loop. It played till I woke up.

Waking up to sounds as part of the dream is a common occurrence, with the sounds enmeshed in the dream, inseparable, like a theme. But sometimes it amazes me that the mind can cook up a dream, a string of images so quickly with the sounds that play at that time in the morning. So the duration of the dream was no longer than 30 seconds and the detailing was way too much to recall. This writup is just an overview. How I wish a gadget could record the visuals that play in the head. There's a treasure cove sitting there.

Oakley glasses and stuff

A colleague of mine is majorly into big brands and stuff- be it Apple products or beer. He wears Oakley glasses and since I don't wear spectacles (yet), This wasn't a biggie for me. What got my eye though was the finish and quality of the product, which was impressive and clearly stood out from regular glasses. I happened to carry my camera bag so I took a few glam shots of the piece on our desk itself. This pair is featured in the May 2012 edition of 20/20 mag and its called Crosslink.