Relationship Hiring: East vs. West

Hey guys, As with anyone who's about to post a topic regarding networking/connections and doesn't want monkey shit thrown at him, I'm going to preface to this by saying: I used the search function and nothing of substance came up. That said, here's my prompt and question. I was born in Asia and was raised in America. My old man has been doing business in both places for as long as I can recall. As far as I'm concerned, the cultural dynamics between the two differ in such a way that a relationship/connection for the entrepreneur gets you further in Beijing than in New York. My question to those of you who know of or have had first hand experiences working in a corporate environment in both the East and West is: Am I right to assume that relationship hiring* in Hong Kong is far more prevalent than in the US? Specifically in the case of banking/consulting, have you ever seen a person of influence go to bat and simply create a job for someone?

*I don't mean immediate family when I say relationship hiring. Getting an offer because your dad is the CEO doesn't count.

3 Comments
 

Relationship hiring in Beijing is prevalent but important caveat - the only office out here really working for is GS-GH. And that office is stacked with "tai zi dang" (太子党). Your average great relationship is not going to get you an offer. The relationship hires in that office have direct connections (i.e. familial) to the highest levels of the politburo and SOE's (e.g. C-level execs at PetroChina, Sinopec, State Grid).

Also, there's definitely relationship hires in the New York offices too... it's just less obvious because of the bigger class sizes.

 

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