STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I work for a large company that for some reason everyone wants a piece of, whether it be working there or doing some kind of business with them.

First of all, I do love trying to get people I know into positions in editorial and marketing.  I find it fun and I have many contacts in my company for those types of positions that trust my opinion and have even asked if I knew people for certain positions.  That to me is fun because people who network with me for those types of positions are looking in the right place.

BUT...I am constantly getting people (friends, friends of friends, my mom's friends' kids, people I don't know from AOL/MySpace/Yahoo) trying to network with me about things I have nothing to do with.  Stuff like accounting positions and graphic design.  Or they work for a printing company or sell office supplies.  Of course my company, which is a publishing company, needs all of these things, but it is a big company and these decisions are made by people I don't know and probably would not be interested in my recommendations.  I always refer the people who are looking for a position in my company (outside of marketing and editorial) to our company's website and tell them if they can find a specific position to give me their resume and I will send it down with a referral form (hey, if they get a position and keep it for 3 months, I get money, so we all win).  I just tell them that I can't make any promises because I don't know who the hiring manager is.  For the people who are trying to do business with my company, I basically have to tell them nicely they are SOL.

I just read my e-mail and a friend of a friend sent me an e-mail about a freight company he just started working for.  It is an actual sales pitch letter, written to me.  Crazy, crazy! Stuff like "We can save your company money and improve your service".  Um...I work in marketing.  What makes you think that I know anything about shipping.  All I know about shipping or freight (is it the same thing?) is that I fill out a label and put it in a box for the mailroom to come pick up and they do some othing things to it and it gets to the intended recipient.  My friend had actually mentioned to me that this friend of hers was going to send me an e-mail and I told her I couldn't do anything for him.  Apparently she didn't tell him that for me or he just sent it anyway. 

I just feel bad.  I hate feeling responsible for something I have nothing to do with.