A response to a question posed by TikToker Jenna, whose content focuses on corporate humor along with discussions about folks’ gripes and realities of working in professional settings, has gone viral.
Jenna asks, “what’s something you were not prepared for in the corporate world?” A TikToker’s viral answer to Jenna’s question doesn’t focus on a setting that many would find traditionally “corporate,” but her remarks pertain to the police force. Lawyer Vicki McGowan (@lawyermum13) claims in her clip, which has been viewed by over 745,000 users, that all senior police officers essentially ascended the ranks not by virtue, but by ingratiating themselves with the right people.
“For me, it’s the amount of people that you work with that are completely incompetent but they’re at such a high level,” McGowan says in the video. “And the best example I can use for that is when I worked for the police.”
McGowan continues that there are so many senior officers and senior staff that “got there because they climbed the greasy pole, they kissed the right arses.”
“It’s not because they’re qualified, it’s not because they have the right qualifications or experience,” she says. “It’s like politicians: they got there because of who they know, not what they know.”
@lawyermum13 #stitch with @Jenna | Corporate Humor I said what I said #thisismyopinion #lawyerlife ♬ original sound – LawyerMum
A lot has been written about questionable hiring and promotion practices in police departments, like nepotism when it comes to onboarding candidates. The same could be said of other industries when it comes to high-level job advancements as well. When it comes to the adage “It’s who you know, not what you know,” there are some business outlets that argue this is very much the case.
Investopedia writes: “…where the right connections can make all the difference. Networking skills are important for any industry, but even more so for entrepreneurs.”
Forbes also delved into this question in an opinion piece which states that while connections can definitely help people reach their goals a bit faster and get to where they’re going more quickly, ultimately cultivating a valuable skillset and putting in quality work towards your goals is the key to success. And while it doesn’t hurt to have a rich and powerful family backing you to elevate you into positions of power, there are those who were able to reach identical positions despite coming from humble beginnings.
Other TikTokers who saw McGowan’s post agreed with her assessment stating that this practice happens in the majority of corporations when it comes to top-level executives. Some people even tossed in colorful terminology to describe the phenomenon as well.
“A pole tortoise. You know it shouldn’t be up there. It knows it shouldn’t be up there. But some dumbass has put it up there,” one user stated.
“Just in general there’s so many incompetent people in such important roles it’s scary actually,” another user shared.
“So true and I’ve often noticed there’s always 1 at the top who IS qualified and experienced but they are the one who’s shunned and ridiculed,” one viewer wrote.
“Sounds like 70% of the army,” another quipped.
“The ones that get recognised are the ones that do a simple task & make it sound like they’ve solved world hunger,” a viewer surmised.
The Daily Dot has reached out to McGowan via email for further comment.
