How can I get my supervisor to consider hiring someone he has declared as unqualified?

Question

My employer has a software developer opening for which a friend of mine would be a great candidate; in fact, she's the best, most knowledgeable programmer I know (I'm a developer myself). Additionally, she is a very helpful person, which would fit in well with our rather inexperienced team.

When I submitted her resume, my supervisor noted that my friend had left college after only two years. (She started a company with some other people.) My boss dismissed my friend out of hand with the comment "We don't hire people who don't have a degree." I tried to tell my boss about my friend's skills and that she has told me she wants to complete her degree, but he wouldn't re-consider.

How might I get him to change his mind and consider her for this job?

Additional info: My current supervisor made the comment that our clients want our employees to have degrees. However, my supervisor before this one was a college dropout herself, so obviously that's not a rule written into company policy.

Answer 1

Why you no want no degree?

The first step is to understand why your boss won't accept someone without a degree.

Some people just assume "4 year degree == good developer" (which is obviously not the case). Or assume you need a degree to be competent (which is also not the case). Or some companies are incredibly rigid in their processes.

Once you understand why, you will be able to identify the perceived weaknesses that this causes. Does your boss think they are bad at algorithms? Have some code samples demonstrating this, etc (which is good regardless). Maybe your boss assumes she won't be professional. There will be hidden assumptions based on the reasons your boss thinks this.

Help put a face to the name

Another approach if there are resistance would be mutual activities. It's pretty easy generally to throw out a "stat" or "potential" person but get them to meet somehow. If your friend is qualified / competent / intelligent this is normally pretty obvious when interacting with people. Suggest an informal lunch/etc.

Putting a "face to the name" makes it a ton easier to overcome biases.

Answer 2

First you must evaluate your motive. While we would all like to work with people we know outside the office, that obviously isn't always the case. As such, your boss is likely going to see you as biased, especially if they know the applicant is your friend.

If your motive is to genuinely get your boss to reconsider, don't go about it directly. Instead, ask him what it is about his preference for developers with degrees over those without degrees, and then you can even pose a question to him like "You believe that is better in spite of companies like (name a noteworthy company who is not degree prejudiced such as yelp etc.) who routinely hire developers with experience over degrees?". Provide imperical evidence. At the end of the day, bosses are human too and while some may not want to admit the error in their ways, a gentle respectful eye opening dialogue can be just the thing to get them to reconsider. Just don't be overly direct or come off as biased and trying to get your friend a job because they are your friend.

Answer 3

Your boss is a bigot. It's just that simple. He cannot conceive that anyone who doesn't have an arbitrary attribute, in this case a diploma, can be acceptable.

I've fought this mentality many times. My degree is not in software engineering, but in audio engineering, and although I've been writing and architecting software for 15 years, now, I still can't get through the front door on some opportunities.

For those that look at skills rather than attributes, I've provided them with what I consider very good work, and they have been happy with it.

It's just life.