# Job interview coming up, should I mention that I went to high school with the owner's daughter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184 "2015-11-21T15:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/1 "2015-11-21T15:21:30Z")
I have an interview coming up for an IT position at a beverage company. The owner’s daughter is a supervisor in the warehouse of this company. I went to middle and high school with her. Is this something I should mention to them? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/2 "2015-11-21T15:30:12Z")
Did you know her? Would she know you? ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/3 "2015-11-21T15:31:11Z")
Yes, I did know her . ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/4 "2015-11-21T15:42:49Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I have an interview coming up for an IT position at a beverage company. The owner’s daughter is a supervisor in the warehouse of this company. I went to middle and high school with her. Is this something I should mention to them? That could cut for you or against you depending on the relationship you had with the daughter. If you were just in the same school at the same time with no real relationship I’m not sure it helps and could be seen as borderline desperate brown nosing. If you are being interviewed by the owner him or herself and they ask you about yourself you could mention you attended the school in passing as part of a short elevator speech bio. That leaves it to them to inquire further as it might pique their curiosity and you can take it from there. If the daughter is unlikely to remember you I’m not sure dropping her name directly would be all that helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/5 "2015-11-21T15:44:18Z")
I’d mention it as an aside if the opportunity presents itself for small talk, but only if the owner is interviewing you. I wouldn’t open with it, and I wouldn’t shoehorn it in the conversation. It’s most likely to be easy to mention they ask about your overall background: where you grew up and went to school. The owner might even ask? “Oh, you went to SuchandSuch High? Did you know my daughter?” If, however, the owner is NOT interviewing you…no I wouldn’t mention it. Then it simply looks like you’re asking for preferential treatment. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/6 "2015-11-21T16:02:06Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Yes, I did know her . How well did you “know” her? I mean, given your username, it’s something one is wont to ask… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/7 "2015-11-21T16:06:58Z")
Whether you get the job or not depends entirely on your relationship with her back then and now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/8 "2015-11-21T16:12:16Z")
It could come across as like vapid, irrelevant name dropping or actually be a good thing to mention - it would depend upon various factors I guess. Also, it’s necessarily safe to assume that the hiring person holds their daughter in the highest regard on all matters . . . ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/9 "2015-11-21T16:21:44Z")
My 2 cents: Hell No! Don’t mention it. If you were good enough friends with her that she could mention your name, that woud be another thing. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/10 "2015-11-21T17:08:59Z")
Definitely not. The only way to leverage this would be if she was able to put a good word in for you with Daddy. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/11 "2015-11-21T19:13:52Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I have an interview coming up for an IT position at a beverage company. The owner’s daughter is a supervisor in the warehouse of this company. I went to middle and high school with her. Is this something I should mention to them? Might that not already be obvious to the owner if he’s read your CV? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/12 "2015-11-21T19:18:33Z")
Call her and ask her if you can mention her name as a personal reference, if any are requested. _If_ she says it’s ok and _if_ they do ask, then mention her. **Uniqueorn** , my CV has never mentioned my HS. Not even when I was looking for my first serious job. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/13 "2015-11-21T23:22:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Call her and ask her if you can mention her name as a personal reference, if any are requested. _If_ she says it’s ok and _if_ they do ask, then mention her. > > **Uniqueorn** , my CV has never mentioned my HS. Not even when I was looking for my first serious job. This is what I was going to say - if you knew her well enough, contact her (phone, LinkedIn) and tell her you’re going for the job, and ask her if you could use her as a reference. - You could also ask for a bit of the inside word - what can she tell you about the interview process, the team etc, any challenges = all of which can be used as fodder for answering interview questions. If you don’t know her well enough to do this, then I don’t think it would pay off to mention it. They may well ask her about you, and want to be clear on what she might say. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/14 "2015-11-22T01:05:11Z")
If the interview is going bad, mention that she gave you The Clap back in Junior High. Go down swinging! ---
**Author:** ![tarrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarrel)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/15 "2015-11-22T06:06:10Z")
Only if the owner was interviewing you and there was some small talk that lead up to where you grew up and where you went to high school. Then he would probably mention he had a daughter who also went to that high school and that’s when you would mention you know her. But just bringing that up in a interview would be extremely weird ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/16 "2015-11-22T07:27:19Z")
I’d say no. If you have a connection that you feel gives you an inside edge, then contact them and ask them to put in a good word for you. If the owner says you’re a friend of his family then it can help you out. But if you say you’re a friend of the owner’s family, it could blow up in your face. The interviewer might decide you’re looking for a free ride or that you’re trying to pull rank on him by dropping the owner’s name. The interviewer might also contact the owner and ask him what he wants done. And the owner might respond anything from “I never heard of the guy” to “Who does he think he is, using my name without asking me?” ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/17 "2015-11-22T16:11:00Z")
If she has a good opinion of you AND her father has a good opinion of her, then do mention it. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/18 "2015-11-23T04:25:45Z")
The fact that the OP asked if _the OP_ should mention it kinda indicates that he (OP) doesn’t know daughter well enough that: 1. She hasn’t already commented on his application 2. He hasn’t asked her if he CAN use her as a reference - which suggests that they have had little or no contact since HS. This is not a ‘close personal friend’ - this is a desperation move to name drop. IOW: Don’t do it. If you were close enough for her to mention you, you wouldn’t be here asking us. Since you are not even remotely on her radar, the name dropping is a pathetic move. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-coming-up-should-i-mention-that-i-went-to-high-school-with-the-owners-daughter/738184/19 "2015-11-23T14:58:15Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > This is what I was going to say - if you knew her well enough, contact her (phone, LinkedIn) and tell her you’re going for the job, and ask her if you could use her as a reference. - You could also ask for a bit of the inside word - what can she tell you about the interview process, the team etc, any challenges = all of which can be used as fodder for answering interview questions. > > If you don’t know her well enough to do this, then I don’t think it would pay off to mention it. They may well ask her about you, and want to be clear on what she might say. +1. Never hurts to get the inside dope (almost as good as straight dope). > [@Gatopescado](#): > > If the interview is going bad, mention that she gave you The Clap back in Junior High. Go down swinging! Of course, a good backup plan is also essential!