I recently switched jobs because my old company was failing. Since I have started, several former co-workers have applied at my current job. Some of them were great, and I gave them enthusiastic recommendations. Some of them were awful, and I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to seem snarky or like a hater, but I was just asked today what I thought of one guy who was (IMO) a complete trainwreck. What should I tell them?
Are you part of HR? Then you have very little legal obligation to not reveal anything. I’d think you were doing a disservice if you recommended, enthusiastically or otherwise, people who helped spur on the failure of the previous company.
You may have to watch out for those you badmouth who end up getting hired anyway because there’s a distinct possibility they’ll find out what you said. But the chances of a “trainwreck” getting hired after being described as such seem remote. Remote enough that it’s worth the effort to say something now rather than put up with incompetence following you from the very place you escaped from.
I am not part of HR and have nothing to do with the hiring process. I am not even in the department that the guy is applying to.
I’m less concerned with word getting back to the person (although that is part of it). My primary concern is I don’t want to seem like a mean-spirited or evil person who badmouths people who I used to work with behind their backs.
How about ‘No’?
You don’t owe them anything, Bad Mouthing would be if you were lying about a good worker. If they are bad workers it’s better not to give them good recommendations. It’s awkward but unfortunately its just that simple.
Out of courtesy, if you knew good and bad former co-workers were applying at your job, what you could’ve done was just not offer any recommendations to anyone of them.
I’ve responded to requests from clueless job-seekers (some former students, some former co-workers) for a recommendation that would be damaging if it were honest by saying that I would feel obliged to include the times they had plagiarized, stolen money, lied, mis-reported their hours, done work that had to be re-done by someone competent, etc. in any recommendation I might write, and though I would put these incidents in the best possible light for the candidate, I couldn’t omit them, so perhaps they would rather find another recommender.
A student (a plagiarist, who ended up passing my course despite the “F” on my gradebook for that assignment) once took me up on it, I wrote the letter (citing her having learned how to do own work as the outcome of her plagiarized paper) but I don’t know if she got the job or not. I hope not.
Then you should provide good, clear examples of why you feel that this person wouldn’t be the best candidate for the job – much like you’d do if you were writing a positive letter of recommendation. You don’t have to go into graphic detail, but make it clear that your feelings are well founded. If you feel awkward, you can leave it at a simple “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to provide a positive recommendation for Joe.”
No one will see you as a jackass – the point is to provide your honest feedback on someone’s history, abilities, and character. If you were to write a glowing letter vs. one that was truthful, albeit negative, then you’d be doing a disservice to the company you work for now.
Thanks for the advice, I like the part about specifics as to why. That way it isn’t like I am just doing it out of spite. Off to write the email!
Are your former work-mates asking you to provide references? Or are employees at your current place of employment asking?
If it’s the former coworkers, why not just say you aren’t really comfortable providing references now. If the ones asking work with you, let them know you’d be happy to answer any specific questions they have and leave it at that. That way, you aren’t using a huge broad brush when perhaps they just want to know one specific thing.
I’d simply decline to comment on anyone I couldn’t recommend. HR’d get the hint, and you wouldn’t have to say anything bad about them.
The classic ambiguous recommendation is:
“You will be extremely lucky if you can get this person to work for you.”
I have been put in similar situations and my response has been somewhere between “I don’t know that I would be the best person to ask that question” and specific reasons why I would not recommend the person depending on how bad the idea of that person being hired was.
I would say something like “I can confirm that he/she was employed by [company]”. If pressed, simply say you’re unable to comment on his/her qualifications beyond confirming their employment status. It will be obvious to whomever is asking that you’re taking the “less said, the better” approach.
Just say “I don’t think he would be a good fit.”
This is my advice as well
I agree. This, or leave it at “not eligible for rehire.”
I have an unfortunate habit of saying what’s on my mind. Experience has shown that this is not always a wise course of action. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.
As such, there is probably a truthful way you could punt on the question. Maybe the person had a different supervisor, shift, floor, department, job title/description, or other, and so you’re really not in a position to comment one way or the other.
If you’re the vengeful type, but unwilling to take the heat yourself, you could suggest the hiring person contact (bad worker’s sworn enemy) who would know much more than you do about his work habits…
Agreed. A variation is “I don’t know him (or you, if the person is asking you) well enough to give a recommendation.” This will be especially clear since you’ve given positive recommendations to others.
Agreed. If a hiring manager at your work says, ‘Hey, you worked with Bob at your old job. What do you think of him?’. ‘I wouldn’t recommend him.’ or ‘I don’t think he would be a good fit’ are perfect responses. If the hiring manager presses for more, just decline. It makes your point loud-and-clear without spilling any sorid details. The one time this didn’t work well for me was when the hiring manager asked this in front of a dozen people – including the candidate’s friends.
If a former co-worker that you can’t recommend asks you to submit their resume, tell them that for best results they should submit it through the official channel (company website, email the HR person, whatever it is). You can explain that this is necessary so that it doesn’t get lost. I don’t think there is anything dishonest about this. You can also offer to follow-up on the resume to make sure the HR person/hiring manager got it. Again, I don’t have a problem making sure a resume gets looked at even if I can’t recommend the person.
Never recomend a person if you don’t feel it’s the right fit. If you do, people will (correctly, imho) question your professional judgement and candor. When I do recomend someone, I often try to be specific: this person is good at design, but field work is not his strength.
I’ve had people ask me for recomendations and if I couldn’t do it, I would say “I probably wouldn’t be the best reference for you.” They tend to get it.
One time someone asked me about a candidate who dropped my name and I said “if you hire her, I will quit today.” That also subtly conveyed my feelings.
I would be saying something along the lines “I don’t believe that person skills lie in that area”… something which can be read as “trainwreck”.