[KiwiHopeful]

I've certainly gotten job interview because of who I knew, but the area in the States where I come from has a relatively small community of teachers. I doubt there's more than 3 degrees of separation between myself and any other teacher in the state. I don't think that I've encountered a situation where I've lost out to a candidate who was less qualified than I was. As I said, I usually know the person who got the job over me, and usually I can say 'Oh yeah, I see why that is.'

That said, on the other side of the coin, I've hired people from outside of our community who were complete unknowns to us. I always try to give an interview to the people I know--even if it's just to give them a chance to practice--but I've always hired the person who I think is most qualified for the job. I think to do otherwise only comes back to bite you in the end, and I prefer not to hire any more problems than I need to.