Not long ago, Roderick M. Hills, a Washington lawyer and former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, asked one chief executive to consider summer employment for the son of a friend of modest means. Hills has been an outside director of this major company, which he declines to name, for years. I can't quite accept that. It's not entirely a fixed game. A good word from a director doesn't guarantee the company will hire the candidate.
Some directors take a fairly casual attitude toward making recommendations.
Paul Lapides, who sits on the board of Sun Communities Inc. and is director of the Corporate Governance Center at Kennesaw State University, Marietta, Ga., says he's never recommended someone for a low-level position. I can think of a couple of nephews that I'd do it for, because they're good. Other board members say it's practically their duty, as specialists in the company's needs, to recommend talent. He says it happens all the time. Lots of corporate introductions are made by outside directors.