St. Louis Business Journal
Why employers prefer to hire people they know

By Anna Navarro

December 2001 - Most employers prefer to hire people they know personally. To understand why that's true, you have to put yourself in their shoes.

The most important thing for an employer is to hire someone whose performance they can rely on, since often their own performance depends on how well the new person functions in the job. Risk reduction is a major consideration in making an employment decision because hiring a loser can result in significant negative fallout: loss of time, momentum, money and morale.

Consequently, most employers have distinct preferences for the techniques they use to fill jobs. Their order of preference is based largely on the likelihood that they will avert a bad hiring decision.

The preferred method is to hire someone whose performance they have observed personally. This includes:

• Promoting someone from lower in the ranks

• Transferring someone at the same level into the vacancy

• Offering a full time position to a consultant who has worked on a freelance basis, a part-time worker, a former employee or an intern.

If this isn't possible, another preferred approach is to hire an individual who has crossed their paths in a non-hiring situation, and about whom they have formed a positive impression. While they may not know the candidate well, they at least have had the opportunity to form a personal opinion of the individual.

If employers can't hire someone they know from personal experience the next choice is to ask for suggestions from people they trust, who know their operation and are presumed to have their best interests at heart. These include:

• Trusted colleagues or other employees in the organization

• Associates who they know through business or professional associations

• Those selected friends, family and acquaintances whose judgement they trust (NOT Uncle Bill, who is trying desperately to find a job for his new son-in-law)

Other methods of filling jobs, like the internet, newspaper ads or even headhunters and employment agencies, are much less preferred because they lack the vital personal connection that reduces the risk employers face when hiring.

What all this means for you, if you are looking for work, is that you need to make positive personal contact with people in your targeted field. And the way to do this is through GOOD networking.

Unfortunately, many people botch networking by asking for a job. They may do this directly (Do you have any openings?) or indirectly (Do you know anyone who could use my services?) However they do it, it's ALWAYS a mistake. Here's why:

• Asking someone for a job puts them on the defensive, and their first line of defense is often to close down. Few of us appreciate being put on the spot that way.

• Asking for a job creates resentment: "Why should I give a perfect stranger a job?"

• Asking for a job creates suspicion: "Who is this person, anyway? What's wrong with them?" Asking for advice, however, is another matter:

• It is flattering and compliments them on their judgements and their success.

• It encourages them to make a personal investment in you. In sum, asking for a job before a person gets to know you and volunteers that an opening exists is asking for too much. It is inappropriate social behavior. Asking for information and advice, however, is something many people are willing to give, time permitting.

The approach we are suggesting here is more than good strategy. It involves respecting and being considerate of the people you approach by limiting what you ask to what is reasonable to ask of strangers.

Network with people in your targeted field. Locate them through their organizations' websites, professional associations, newspaper archives or asking friends. Then simply call and ask to meet with them to get their advice.

If you present yourself appealingly, and don't pressure them, the people you network with may VOLUNTEER information about openings. But even if they don't, you can still obtain some very valuable information. For example: Telling you about a field so you can decide whether you want to enter it or giving you the "inside scoop" on a particular organization. You are also likely to be remembered, should openings occur in the future.

Bottom line: Getting to know people in your targeted field personally is still the single most powerful tool in your job hunting arsenal because most employers prefer to hire people they know personally. But to be effective, your approach must demonstrate tact and good judgement.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that trains independent career strategists and consults with individual clients.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.