I received a vm this afternoon from a contact who is getting ready to interview a candidate later this week. The applicant previously worked at my company and he’s curious if I know them and if so what my opinion/thoughts would be. Turns out I directly worked with this person while interning in college. Let’s just say I was NOT a fan. How do you all think I should handle the conversation if my recommendation would not be positive? Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful …
Ask him if he still molests collies … he’ll get the picture.
pretty sure you cannot say anything that would negatively affect them from being hired.
Just say “Between you and me, I wouldn’t hire this person”. Say it over the phone or in person, so there’s nothing in writing --> no fear of backlash.
You could just say “I worked directly with him but have no suggestion to make on your hiring decision.” Your contact will get the picture.
mpnoonan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > pretty sure you cannot say anything that would > negatively affect them from being hired. I thought this was only if you were the employer …
Avoid saying anything negative, it never hurts to do good to anyone. Will you be happier if the concerned person did not get a job? Does it matter to you at all? If you don’t care about it then why the hack take the blame on yourself? I am sure you got recommendations too. Just be polite and don’t say anything bad. Anything good you do always comes back to you.
I’ve declined to provide references before, it goes a little something like “I worked with mo34 but cannot provide a positive reference for this person so you should seek someone else’s opinion.”
mpnoonan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > pretty sure you cannot say anything that would > negatively affect them from being hired. Which would be pretty much “don’t hire this guy” you can however, say any/everything you want as it pertains to their work ethic, attitude and whatever personality/work metic you want to comment on.
daviskr, I wouldnt say anything negative about anyone, epecially in this economy. Its somebody’s living at stake here. Bad karma.
I’d recommend you give them your honest opinion (not in writing though as NYCAnalyst86 said), because if you don’t tell them and they end up hiring the person it could possibly negatively reflect on you down the road. Plus you might have to work with them again, and it doesn’t sound like you’re into that idea.
I know in Canada, if the candidate takes your permission to put you on their reference list, you can get sued for saying anything negative that might result in the candidate not getting hired. Did this person ask you before giving your contact information to the recruiters? If no, then just ignore the VM. “Do not say anything if you don’t have anything good to say”…just sayin’.
Don’t say negative things. This is just common business sense. Just decline to comment. This will send the signal that you are not enthusiastic about the person.
Iginla2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Did this person ask you before giving your contact > information to the recruiters? If no, then just > ignore the VM. “Do not say anything if you don’t > have anything good to say”…just sayin’. I was not listed as a reference. This contact happens to be a family friend who works in the same industry. Therefore, he knows all about my job history/previous employers. He would like to pick my brain before the interview. I believe it would be handled in an off the record manner. I’m quite positive he’d want to hear more than “no comment” …
Be diplomatic about it but say you can’t provide a positive reference, period.
No writing. Whatever you do, don’t say anything negative. Just say you don’t have an opinion on this person. Unless your contact is really really stupid, he/she will get the message.
What’s wrong with the person anyway? General incompetence or distinct shadyness/sheistyness?
daviskr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Iginla2010 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > Did this person ask you before giving your > contact > > information to the recruiters? If no, then just > > ignore the VM. “Do not say anything if you > don’t > > have anything good to say”…just sayin’. > > I was not listed as a reference. This contact > happens to be a family friend who works in the > same industry. Therefore, he knows all about my > job history/previous employers. He would like to > pick my brain before the interview. I believe it > would be handled in an off the record manner. I’m > quite positive he’d want to hear more than “no > comment” … Yupp, you gotta go with “no comment”! I wish you had a better option.
be positive and give the employer a good opinion of the candidate.
If it really was informal, I’d say that there were “a few other people I’d consider ahead of that guy…let’s see…Bernie Madoff…that guy from Office Space…”