Giving a job reference to an ex-colleague...

[athithi]

I've been referred by an ex-colleague and am wondering what would be an appropriate/legal way of saying I would never work with this person again.

1. He has zero communication skills and has such a heavy accent that I had to use another team member of his nationality translate to him in his native tongue and then back to me in English.

2. He needs hand-holding every bit of the way and I have had to sit and narrate code to him on several occasions as he cannot work with high-level requirements.

3. He has no formal training for the position he worked (and a similar position that he is applying for) but has some fundamental knowledge and is managing to scrape by every time.

4. He has no concept of coding practices and codes like a high-schooler.

5. He is a pretty friendly guy and has kids.

 

[wasserkool]

i think you are not allowed to badmouth anyone according to the law, the most appropriate way is to say
" I do not feel comfortable to be a good reference for him"

or something along that line

 

Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

 

[acemcmac]

I would simply decline writing any sort of letter

but thats just me... if you have an axe to grind, go for it- but remmeber.... this poor guy is trusting you to help him out.... god knows what he has at stake... and you did say he was pretty friendly and with kids

 

[akubi]

it was wrong for him to refer you without even asking first. he dug his own grave.

 

[Yossarian]

first, it's rude of him to try to use you as a reference without asking you first. second, just say you don't want to give a referral and leave it at that. or say you wouldn't want to work with him again. I wouldn't go into a whole lot of detail.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

Yup. The employer will probably get the point if he's worth his weight in salt.

 

[labgeek]

One of the questions is almost always: Is X eligible for re-hire... A. No. (and do NOT go into why) That pretty much ends it right there.

 

[gigapet]

Legally you can only say how long he worked there for and what the job description was.

 

[athithi]

Ok, it's unanimous then...no reference for him, then He was directly reporting to me and when I first tried to escalate the issue to management, they simply told me, "He's a coder, not a developer, deal with it" :frown: IMO, he is not much more than a typist who can barely spell.

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

thats too much info right there and can get you or your company sued.

I do not wish to be a reference. THank You. that is all.

 

[Yossarian]

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts" - Bertrand Russell

that is a great quote.

 

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

thats too much info right there and can get you or your company sued.

I do not wish to be a reference. THank You. that is all.

Does it depend on state law, or does that go for the whole US?

 

[Pacfanweb]

in NC, you can't say anything bad about them. You can say whether you'd hire them back, or not. That's the best policy.

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

thats too much info right there and can get you or your company sued.

I do not wish to be a reference. THank You. that is all.

Does it depend on state law, or does that go for the whole US?

To be safer than sorry only answer factual questions they can find out on their own.

Did he work here? Yes
How long did he work here? XYZ
What was his job description? XYZ
Would you Hire him again? Sorry our company policy does not allow for me to answer these types of questions.

 

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

thats too much info right there and can get you or your company sued.

I do not wish to be a reference. THank You. that is all.

Does it depend on state law, or does that go for the whole US?

To be safer than sorry only answer factual questions they can find out on their own.

Did he work here? Yes
How long did he work here? XYZ
What was his job description? XYZ
Would you Hire him again? Sorry our company policy does not allow for me to answer these types of questions.

What about positive references? If you like the person and they ask you for a reference, are you allowed to give them a big thumbsup to their next employer without getting sued?

 

[athithi]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: jumpr
Just tell the employer that you do not feel you can provide a positive reference for him and advise them to seek someone else.

thats too much info right there and can get you or your company sued.

I do not wish to be a reference. THank You. that is all.

Does it depend on state law, or does that go for the whole US?

To be safer than sorry only answer factual questions they can find out on their own.

Did he work here? Yes
How long did he work here? XYZ
What was his job description? XYZ
Would you Hire him again? Sorry our company policy does not allow for me to answer these types of questions.

What about positive references? If you like the person and they ask you for a reference, are you allowed to give them a big thumbsup to their next employer without getting sued?

I would hope so, considering all my recruiters came back to me stunned with the reference my ex-manager provided them From the feedback the recruiters gave me, it looks like my ex-manager really hyped me up a lot. I did work very hard for him and saved several critical issues on the project. But I felt he was excessively generous...not that I am complaining

 

[athithi]

Dear Abc,

I have worked with Xxx on the ***** project in "123 Company" for a relatively short period of time. Unfortunately, I will not to able provide a reference beyond this information for Xxx. Thanks!

Regards,
athithi

Fair enough?

 

[wondersteve]

Originally posted by: akubi
it was wrong for him to refer you without even asking first. he dug his own grave.

my thoughts exactly