제 친구 중 한 명이 자신의 소규모 비즈니스의 CEO입니다. 우리는 아주 가까운 친구는 아니지만, 몇 번 서로의 집을 방문해 저녁 식사와 술자리를 함께할 만큼 충분히 잘 아는 사이입니다.
그의 회사에서 제가 관심 있는 직무를 채용 중입니다. 저는 해당 직무에 적합한 기술을 보유하고 있지만, 경험이 부족하여 다른 후보자들이 서류상으로는 저보다 더 나을 가능성이 큽니다. 해당 직무는 그의 부하 직원에게 보고하는 역할이며, 제 친구가 채용 과정에 어느 정도 영향을 미칠지(또는 전혀 영향을 미치지 않을지)는 모릅니다.
저는 이 직무에 지원하고 싶지만, 친구에게 부담을 주고 싶지도 않고, 우리의 친분이 채용 과정에 과도한 영향을 미치는 것도 원하지 않습니다. 아직 친구에게 이 사실을 말하지 않았는데, 그렇게 한다면 채용 과정에 영향을 미칠 가능성이 크기 때문입니다.
그 회사는 꽤 작은 사무실에서 운영되고 있으며, 제가 익명으로 면접 단계까지 진행하게 되더라도 친구가 저를 보게 될 가능성이 높습니다. 하지만 친구가 자주 사무실에 없다는 것도 알고 있습니다.
어떻게 진행하는 것이 좋을까요? 제가 이 직무를 얻지 못할 가능성이 크다는 점을 감안하면, “지원하지 않는 것”이 최선의 선택일 수도 있다고 생각합니다.
Of course it will. But that’s not in and of itself a problem.1 You know this person well enough to consider him a friend so it would be very strange not to give him a heads-up, especially because he’s actually the owner and it’s a small business. Just tell him that you saw the ad and think that you could potentially be a good candidate, even if you aren’t a perfect match experience-wise. Just be direct, honest and make it easy for him to say no. There are legitimate reasons not to hire friends, even if there are a few levels between you, your friend might simply prefer not to mix business with personal relationships, or they may as you suspect prefer a more experienced profile.
I think you should apply for the role first and decide next steps based on how they take it next. I am assuming your buddy CEO will not screen through online applications and will not know you have applied.
So if his team-members decline your online application itself, then there is nothing for you to think! If they do call you for an interview, then you know that it is based on your merits and not because of your connections and you can feel good about it.
Unless you desperately need this job, in which case it’s a whole different story. Then saying “please please give me a job, I’m about to lose my house and my children will be starving homeless waifs” etc might be your best bet.
Before going to the interview, you can send a note (I would prefer that over a phone call) that you had applied for this position and you are appearing for the interview. You can express your concern anyway about conflict-of-interest but more likely than not he will understand the situation himself and ideally should keep himself out of decision making process.
Some good answers here, let me add:
I would definitely NOT apply and then try to avoid having your friend see you when you show up for the interview, like trying to schedule an interview when he’s out of town. Surely if you get the job, he’s going to find out sooner or later, and at that point it will be far more awkward than it would be if you told him up front.
I’ve had two times I’ve gotten involved in new business start-ups by friends, and both times it ended badly. Not horrible, we were screaming at each other, friendship ruined forever badly, but things didn’t work out, I wanted out of this deal but now it’s awkward badly. Any time something like this comes up, I find myself thinking, If this doesn’t work out for whatever reason, is it going to ruin our friendship? And do I value the job or whatever the deal is more than I value the friendship?
I’ve had two times I’ve gotten involved in new business start-ups by friends, and both times it ended badly. Not horrible, we were screaming at each other, friendship ruined forever badly, but things didn’t work out, I wanted out of this deal but now it’s awkward badly. Any time something like this comes up, I find myself thinking, If this doesn’t work out for whatever reason, is it going to ruin our friendship? And do I value the job or whatever the deal is more than I value the friendship?
I think the best you can do is talk to your friend, tell him you saw the ad, you think you might be qualified, etc, but you realize it could be awkward, what do you think, I really don’t need this job so if you say you think it’s a bad idea it’s not like I’ll be unemployed and living in a cardboard box, etc. As someone else said, I’d try to make it easy for him to say please don’t.
Some good answers here, let me add:
I would definitely NOT apply and then try to avoid having your friend see you when you show up for the interview, like trying to schedule an interview when he’s out of town. Surely if you get the job, he’s going to find out sooner or later, and at that point it will be far more awkward than it would be if you told him up front.