Mentioning that my partner works in company I'm applying to...

ireland.man

I'm applying to an online position with an international company that my wife already works for. I'm wondering if it would be a good thing or bad if I mentioned in my cover letter that she works there? Would it comes across as a bit underhanded in any way, as if I was expecting special treatment, or would it make sense to show I have some cursory knowledge of the company and what it takes to work for them?

Blingy

ireland.man wrote: »

I'm applying to an online position with an international company that my wife already works for. I'm wondering if it would be a good thing or bad if I mentioned in my cover letter that she works there? Would it comes across as a bit underhanded in any way, as if I was expecting special treatment, or would it make sense to show I have some cursory knowledge of the company and what it takes to work for them?

IMO I wouldn't mention it in the cover letter however should you get an interview then if an appropriate opening occurred then I might mention it.

Mr. Loverman

Why isn't your wife giving your application to HR on your behalf?

It would be absolutely weird if I was interviewing someone and they said "btw my wife works here". It would also be weird if I wasn't given the CV by the wife - I'd be wondering does she even know he's applying.

ireland.man

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Why isn't your wife giving your application to HR on your behalf?

It would be absolutely weird if I was interviewing someone and they said "btw my wife works here". It would also be weird if I wasn't given the CV by the wife - I'd be wondering does she even know he's applying.

It's for an online job and the application is all completed online, standardised and automatic. My wife used her work email to refer me to the position but I can't imagine it would immediately register that she was my wife, etc.

Anyway, I think I might just leave it off and mention that my wife works there if they call me for an interview.

Mr. Loverman

Why can't she just hand your CV and cover letter to HR?

evolving_doors

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Why can't she just hand your CV and cover letter to HR?

maybe HR want to be let go through their own hiring procedure rather than someone coming in nodding and winking! If I was in HR I'd take exception if someone tried to bypass the hiring procedure and imply that I should hire the person simply because of being related...

Depends on the culture too I suppose.

Go on your own merits OP, but sure, maybe find out as much as you can about the role through your spouse.

Only relevance of your spse 'handing in the CV' or mentioning about contacts is if there is an employee referal/reward program in place. Other than that it might come across that you 'need help' to fulfill the role.

Mr. Loverman

How big is the company? (Roughly how many employees in Ireland)
Would you be working in the same office?
Same department?

Mrs OBumble

Working for the same company as your partner isn't generally something I'd advise.

There are some people who just don't like the possibility of pillow talk (count me among those).

Also, it means that if the company close / fold / whatever, your family's entire income is at risk instead of only half of it. This alone is good reason to avoid it, IMHO>

ireland.man

All the work is online, the application process is online, interviews would be conducted through Skype and my wife works remotely from home.

It just means I'd mention her name on the cover letter but the more I thought about this and from the replies here, I think it's best not to mention it. It may come up at the interview stage but there's no benefit from mentioning it. As people say, it might give me a greater insight into the type of company it is and what they're looking for but there's no other advantage I would or should expect!

Mr. Loverman

If it was a normal company, I would think it's absolutely weird you don't let them know in advance your wife works there, and I would think it's especially weird you wouldn't bring it up in the interview unless asked.

But I get the feeling this isn't a normal job, so...

evolving_doors

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

If it was a normal company, I would think it's absolutely weird you don't let them know in advance your wife works there, and I would think it's especially weird you wouldn't bring it up in the interview unless asked.

But I get the feeling this isn't a normal job, so...

Just wondering.... how would he frame that phone-call/email/letter (assuming he hasn't gotten an acknowledgement of receiving his application yet!).

Also, at the interview how would he bring about the topic of his spouse being an employee? For that matter, why should he feel the need to mention it?

Stheno

Armelodie wrote: »

Just wondering.... how would he frame that phone-call/email/letter (assuming he hasn't gotten an acknowledgement of receiving his application yet!).

Also, at the interview how would he bring about the topic of his spouse being an employee? For that matter, why should he feel the need to mention it?

Well at interview if he was asked what he knew about the company he could mention his wife works there so he's had positive information about the company and working there.

Same in the cover letter.

Mezcita

Armelodie wrote: »

Just wondering.... how would he frame that phone-call/email/letter (assuming he hasn't gotten an acknowledgement of receiving his application yet!).

Also, at the interview how would he bring about the topic of his spouse being an employee? For that matter, why should he feel the need to mention it?

Fairly simple IMO. During the inevitable "Why do you want to walk here?" question the OP could say that he has heard good things about the company from his other half. That (to me anyway) is a good sign that he would want to work there.

Personally, I would be all in favour of mentioning the relationship during the interview stage. Referrals go a long way, primarily because the person who does the referring is putting their reputation on the line about the other person not being some type of mentalist who is likely to be rubbish at the job. Equally companies love referrals as it saves them the costs of hiring someone via third party methods (recruitment agencies, online job ads etc).

Holsten

I've been in a similar situation, I mentioned it in the interview.

Worked for me anyway!

Think it will always help if you already know someone working in the company.