<p>It's probably no secret that a lot of the jobs that students are able to get working through professors or doing anything other than menial labor are gotten through some sort of family connection.</p>
<p>In some situations though, the boss him/herself is an extended family member with a different last name. It seems rather dishonest not to disclose that while you feel that you are qualified for the job you probably would not have had the opportunity had you not been a family member when applying to college. It's unfortunate that sometimes good work can be overshadowed by these circumstances.</p>
<p>Should you report this on the college application? How should you report this? Would this revelation hurt your application?</p>
<p>Does any of this change if a letter of recommendation comes from the family member? (I would think disclosure would definitely be necessary then.)</p>
<p>A letter of recommendation from Mommy or Daddy (or anyone with a shared last name) is silly, but there’s no reason to “disclose” the circumstance by which you got an internship or job as long as while you were there you did a good job. I’d say at least half of the kids I know who have internships/jobs beyond food service or retail got them through some sort of “connection”. That’s the way to world works. Colleges know this better than anyone.</p>
<p>A good portion of the adults I know got their jobs through some sort of connection.</p>
<p>Isn’t it different though when the boss is a family member as opposed to a friend of a family member?</p>
<p>The important thing with a job is not how you got it, but the quality of work you did while there.</p>
<p>“The important thing with a job is not how you got it, but the quality of work you did while there.”</p>
<p>Exactly! Inequity in our modern world will always occur, and how you find the job will never be a pure meritocracy (who you know matters!). That being said, no matter how you get the job, the quality (or lack of) work you do will be the most important part to your resume & future.</p>