What I’m asking about is mostly water under the bridge since it has already happened, but I’m curious about people’s reactions (and there’s at least a couple of other people that it’s conceivable employers will ask me about in the not too distant future). Sorry if I seem a little vague - I value my “semi-anonymity” and getting too explicit would push the boundaries of that more than I would like.
If you have told someone they can use you as a reference, and a potential employer of that person calls you up, is it reasonable to “gloss over” flaws or even not mention them if you’re not asked for them, and overemphasize good points? Note that I am not talking about lying (I know that there are potential legal repercussions there, and in any case I don’t need to be persuaded that explicit lying is unethical under these circumstances).
The person in question I happen to like (hence the offer of a reference), definitely has better than adequate organizational skills, but can hold major grudges against some co-workers for minor issues. If I had been that person’s supervisor I would have considered some of the behaviour as a result of those grudges definitely insubordinate on several occasions.
Two different employers have asked me about the reference, and the second will be employing this person starting April 2. In both cases I said the person had fantastic organizational skills (in reality I don’t consider “better than adequate” the same as fantastic). In the first case I was specifically asked for bad points, so I downplayed things and said that the person could sometimes hold a grudge longer than was reasonable (no mention of insubordinate behaviour). In the second case (resulting in hiring) I was not asked for and as a result did not volunteer bad points.
How do others that are asked by employers about ex-coworkers respond to reference checks? Am I expected to be completely neutral in my responses to reference checks? Should I volunteer negative information if I’m not asked for it?