Owning your own company can be a great thing, but there are also drawbacks.
In today’s story, one business owner’s cousin wants to work for his company.
The question is, should he hire her just because she’s family?
Let’s see how the story plays out…
AITA for refusing to interview my cousin for a position at my company?
I (27M) finished my Bachelor’s 6 years ago.
Right after graduating I worked as a software engineer at Facebook for a year, got a job at a hedge fund and worked there for three years, got burned out, took a few months off, and founded a company around 1.5 years ago.
My little cousin Meera (22F), bless her bleeding heart, has always been my biggest supporter.
He’s being sarcastic. Meera is actually very negative.
When I was at Facebook she’d frequently remind me that my employer is a cancer and I’m working to make the world worse.
When I was at the hedge fund she’d always remind me that I’m paid a boatload to contribute nothing to society.
When I started my own company, she said that she hoped my hedge fund would take me back when the AI hype wave died off and my company went under.
Meera applied for a job at his company.
Anyways, we’re currently interviewing for a lead designer.
I guess the new grad job market must be tough because earlier this week we found Meera’s profile in our applicant portal.
My uncle messaged me later letting me know that she had applied and it would be great if we could interview her.
I replied that I’m flattered by her application but unfortunately we’re hiring for a lead with more experience.
Her father keeps trying to get her a job at his company.
He said we could still hire her to work under the design lead.
I said we’re not looking to hire junior designers at the moment but we’ll keep her in mind as we grow.
My uncle then sent a link to an article about my company’s funding and said I certainly have budget to hire her.
I got fed up and basically told him I won’t hire someone who takes every chance to insult my career and who I can’t trust to be respectful in the workplace.
And also it’s unprofessional that her father is messaging me on her behalf when she could be asking me herself.
He wonders if he should think about hiring Meera.
He didn’t message me after that, but Meera sent me a snarky text saying she didn’t realize I was so sensitive and she’s sorry she offended me.
The thing is, I don’t think she’s entirely wrong about Facebook/hedge funds, but still she hasn’t said a single nice thing about my career or even my company and I don’t think I can trust her.
AITA for refusing to even consider Meera for a role at my company?
He definitely shouldn’t hire someone he doesn’t trust just because she’s family.
Let’s see how Reddit responded…
This reader recommends NOT hiring family.
Another reader thinks Meera would bring “drama.”
This person doesn’t think Meera would fit in.
Another reader keeps it to the point.
This person describes Meera and her dad as “entitled.”
I wouldn’t hire Meera.
She’s got to work hard to build a resume just like he did.
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.