Current Events > Literally every successful person I know has benefited from nepotism.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is this normal? I can't think of a single self-made person I've personally come across.

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We live in a society

DoctorPiranha3 posted...

We live in a society

where honor is a distant memory

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define success

OudeGeuze posted...

define success

Earning a decent living and living in expensive apartments/homes.

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CRON posted...

Is this normal?

yeah. having money means not taking loans which means no interest and more growth which means having money.
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CRON posted...

decent living

CRON posted...

living in expensive

CRON posted...

Is this normal? I can't think of a single self-made person I've personally come across.

Its a big world. Whats normal?

I met one once. 25 years in owning his own successful business. Son of drunks and completed self made. Started working for him and because he was in the construction biz, Ive since met dozens more.

He wasnt the first person I worked for that was first generation business owner, either and my story is hardly rare.

Give it time or think harder. Either way, to me, normal is subjective.

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CRON posted...

Earning a decent living and living in expensive apartments/homes.

how expensive? also cost is relative.

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What are you defining as nepotism?

Like I grew up well off and it as a result, my parents substantially supported my college tuition and I was able to graduate debt free. Am I extremely privileged because of this, absolutely. But my parents didn't get me a job so it isn't nepotism.

I know quite a lot of people who have successful lives without nepotism, across various levels of privilege.

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you dont know any people

Sounds like you don't actually know many people then.

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Breaking News!!!

Being likable and having a social network may lead to people in that network wanting to have you on their team.

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Compsognathus posted...

What are you defining as nepotism?

Like I grew up well off and it as a result, my parents substantially supported my college tuition and I was able to graduate debt free. Am I extremely privileged because of this, absolutely. But my parents didn't get me a job so it isn't nepotism.

I know quite a lot of people who have successful lives without nepotism, across various levels of privilege.

Yeah, OP what's exactly your criteria here because from some of these responses I get the impression that some of you don't understand difference between wealth privilege and nepotism

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thats almost always the case. Ive been saying this for ages that people rarely get jobs on merit without knowing the right people.

Any job worth having will most likely be offered to people that management knows first before throwing it out to the public.

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AzNDarkSamurai posted...

thats almost always the case. Ive been saying this for ages that people rarely get jobs on merit without knowing the right people.

Any job worth having will most likely be offered to people that management knows first before throwing it out to the public.

Yea I agree and this isn't as much nepotism but just knowing the right people. Mostly everyone I know including myself has gotten into jobs and opportunities from knowing the right person.

Merit won't get you a job over someone the management knows personally who's gotten the recommendation from someone inside.

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AzNDarkSamurai posted...

thats almost always the case. Ive been saying this for ages that people rarely get jobs on merit without knowing the right people.

Any job worth having will most likely be offered to people that management knows first before throwing it out to the public.

I mean so long as it isn't just undeservedly being thrown to friends and family, this isn't exactly a bad thing. Hiring is a complete and total crapshoot. Someone can have a good resume, a good interview and still absolutely suck at a job. Hiring a known entity takes a ton of risk out of the search since you aren't playing quite as much of a guessing game.

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nepots fuck off

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apocalyptic_4 posted...

Yea I agree and this isn't as much nepotism but just knowing the right people. Mostly everyone I know including myself has gotten into jobs and opportunities from knowing the right person.

Merit won't get you a job over someone the management knows personally who's gotten the recommendation from someone inside.

Every job I've ever had, all five of them, were because someone I know "got" me the job interview/offer.

(High School) Worked at the same amusement park my older sister was working at.

(High School) Worked at the Deli my sister's boyfriend was working at.

(College) Worked at the bank branch my mom was the VP of the department.

(Post College) Worked at the Publishing Company my best friend was working at.

(Post College) Currently working at the Battery Sales and Distribution company that my Mother-In-Law was working at (she has since retired).

Only job I was "given" was the one where my Mom worked there, but I wasn't just handed the job, I had the required qualifications for the job opening.

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Also you need to look at this from the PoV of the hiring company because honestly identifiying talent and merit is extremely difficult so yes most companies will take a known commodity than gamble on an unknown

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Its called networking and anyone can do it.

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Probably normal. Even many who aren't successful benefit of have benefited from nepotism.

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NecroFoul99 posted...

Its a big world. Whats normal?

I met one once. 25 years in owning his own successful business. Son of drunks and completed self made. Started working for him and because he was in the construction biz, Ive since met dozens more.

He wasnt the first person I worked for that was first generation business owner, either and my story is hardly rare.

Give it time or think harder. Either way, to me, normal is subjective.

I'd imagine it's more common in certain fields like construction and plumbing, trades are great.

It'd be less likely for a finance guy, though.

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^its also less likely in the entertainment industry

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DrizztLink posted...

I'd imagine it's more common in certain fields like construction and plumbing, trades are great.

It'd be less likely for a finance guy, though.

AzNDarkSamurai posted...

^its also less likely in the entertainment industry

Yup. Thats what I meant by normal is subjective.

A lot of convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants; including fast food chains, dollar stores, etc are owned by first generation franchise owners. Many of us have met someone like that in some way.

Being born in ranch or farm country, I bet youd know a first generation. Its all relative.

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the higher up you go, the less there are, but you'll be surprised how many self-made millionaires there are.

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DrizztLink posted...

I'd imagine it's more common in certain fields like construction and plumbing, trades are great.

It'd be less likely for a finance guy, though.

Eh, the only thing you really need to get started as an accountant is a degree in accounting. Obviously that requires some combination of hard work and financial privilege, but once you are there the career path is pretty standard.

Go to career fair -> Watch a bunch of firms invite you to networking events -> Go to events -> Get interviews. You still need to be good at what you do and do well in an interview, but the entire process is designed so you could not no a single person in the accounting world before going to college and still get a job. In fact, in six and a half years of public accounting I only met one person who had a relative in the firm. And honestly, he was really good at his job so he would have likely got it anyway.

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I know a ton of people who got to where they were without nepotism

I would only call myself successful because I'm a homeowner, car owner, no debt, and can afford to live by myself in the DC metro area. I didn't get a full ride to college because my family knew somebody (first generation college student) or even because of my skin color despite what anti-affirmative action people would have you think. 16 years ago on the University of Alabama's website they had a pretty easy to read page saying that if you have a certain GPA and meet the threshold on either the ACT or SAT, you get a full scholarship + laptop + stipend pretty much no questions asked. So I did that, and that led to undergrad research experiences that made my grad school application look attractive. Notre Dame also just blindly covers all of your costs in the computer science and engineering departments plus another stipend, so I did that. Got the job I currently have from seeing a mailing list post for my area of research, didn't know anybody here other than recognizing the name of one person who was supposed to attend a conference I went to 4 years prior but they ended up not going. My grad school advisor was also fresh from industry and I was her first student to get a PhD so it wasn't due to her influence either.

My dad also runs his own pretty successful business that finally took off by the time I was almost done with undergrad and he definitely did not have any help from anybody. I distinctly remember all of the arguments he had with my grandparents because they supported his other siblings over the years, who also coincidentally lived right down the street from my grandparents, while not extending any help to him whatsoever. My dad is the only one out them that did not have a college degree and instead went the military route. Took over a decade for that success to happen.

But yeah at work I've also seen nepotism in action. One of the smartest people I work with could definitely be where he is without it, but his father was a long time employee and my coworker pretty much grew up in that environment. And then a handful of interns got their internships from convos I overheard by standing 5 feet from where it was happening that went along the lines of "Hey do you have a couple spots open for interns this summer, my son and his girlfriend are looking for internships"; another instance was son + best friend.

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Compsognathus posted...

Eh, the only thing you really need to get started as an accountant is a degree in accounting. Obviously that requires some combination of hard work and financial privilege, but once you are there the career path is pretty standard.

Go to career fair -> Watch a bunch of firms invite you to networking events -> Go to events -> Get interviews. You still need to be good at what you do and do well in an interview, but the entire process is designed so you could not no a single person in the accounting world before going to college and still get a job. In fact, in six and a half years of public accounting I only met one person who had a relative in the firm. And honestly, he was really good at his job so he would have likely got it anyway.

Accounting, fair.

I was thinking more Wall Street.

Or banker.

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