Should I recommend a fired colleague?

I work at a multi-location company, on a project involving people from different offices. I had a co-worker at another location who worked on the same project as me for a few months. Recently she was fired (I don't know any details, but it was quite abrupt).

A few weeks later she approached me because she was up for a job interview and she needs references from previous employments. I'd like to help her, so I gave her permission to use my contact information for reference.

I don't expect the prospective employer to actually contact me, but in any case - shall I mention to the prospective employer that she was actually fired, not simply "being redundant"?

She wasn't that bad for her job (I've seen worse and lot worse), but wasn't particularly good either and was pretty high-maintenance, bordering on annoyance (but this was partly due to the project setup) - shall I recommend her and stress the positives, be as diplomatic as I can and avoid the negative stuff, or be blunt (deep down inside I feel I wouldn't want to work with her in the future)?

7 Answers
7

Recently she was fired (I don't know any details, but it was quite abrupt).

shall I mention to the prospective employee that she was actively fired, not simply "being redundant"?

No. You already stated you don't know any of the circumstances or details around the end of her employment. Since you do not know the circumstances, it would not be appropriate for you to speak to issues that you do not have knowledge about.

If they ask about why she left, simply say "I don't know anything about the circumstances around her employment ending."

Speak to what you do know about - was she technically competent? A good team member? What were her strengths? Etc. If they're looking to see if there was a big stink involved, maybe they'll ask "If you were hiring for a project, would you hire her?" Then, go ahead and answer truthfully, if you are comfortable making that kind of assessment. If not, just say that, since you're not at the level where you supervise her level of worker, you're not comfortable making that assessment, but you did find her to be an excellent (or not so great) peer.

If they're fishing for information on why she left your company, you simply don't know. Anything you say would be uninformed gossip or speculation, and you are there to share knowledge you have.

shall I mention to the prospective employee that she was actively fired, not simply "being redundant"?

You shall mention and answer what they ask you, and in a way you feel comfortable.

You say you are not sure on the reasons why she was let go, so you can't honestly answer such questions and would be better if you refrained from speculating on the reason in case you were asked about it.

Instead, try to focus on the positive aspects you recall of her, or the way you interacted with her in the past. Try to keep it professional; if you are not sure what to answer it's better to say you are not sure than to make something up that could backfire on your former colleague.

You say you want to help her, so help her. Stress the positives, avoid the negatives, and hope that someone will be willing to do the same for you in your hour of need. If you don't feel comfortable saying nice things about her, you shouldn't have agreed to give her a reference.

It may help to keep in mind, a glowing reference from you does not necessarily mean she will be hired but a mediocre reference from you will likely be her downfall. Hiring managers tend to have way too many candidates for any given position and sub par references are an easy way to filter people out. After your reference comes through she still has to get through technical exams, interviews, presentations, etc. All these stages are designed to poke holes in someone who superficially appears to be a strong candidate.

Imagine that she's on trial and you're her defense attorney. Having seen all the evidence, you know both sides of the case but your job is to be her advocate. The hiring manager(s) will be aware of your bias and will most likely not take everything you say at face value. You're helping her get her foot in the door--nothing more.

I'm unsure of the standards of professionalism within all fields, but in engineering, if someone asks you for a reference and you agree to provide one, it is not appropriate to offer up negative information about that person when a prospective employers reaches out to check references. It's important to remember, someone who was fired is under a lot of stress and doing a lot of work to find a new job. To do otherwise, is a pretty substantial breach of trust and pretty much torpedos a lot of their work effort.

This is not to mean that you should lie, but when asked questions about the applicant you should present the information in the best light you feel you are able. For example, if asked why are they no longer working at your company, your response should be along the lines that, "You aren't familiar with the nature of their leaving," which is true unless you were directly connected with that person's firing.

This should not suggest that you need to heap praise, either. Simply provide an honest accounting of how your interactions with that person.

If you feel like you cannot do this (i.e. you genuinely don't think this person is qualified at this position and should not be employed doing it) then you've an obligation to inform them that you are requesting to withdraw your recommendation. It is extremely unfair and unprofessional to do otherwise. The reasons being that you'll seriously harm their chances of future success and they will have no idea why (most people checking references aren't going to report a negative one back to the applicant).

If this is someone who you really don't recommend - you say she is mediocre at best, then if you do recommend her and she is hired, and then doesn't work out - all that will reflect badly on you.

Your best bet is to call her back and tell her you've reconsidered, and you would rather not act as a reference.

If you are unwilling to do that, while you should not say anything negative that you are not completely sure about, you should also not say anything positive that overlooks the negatives. You're best option is to say that you have worked with her, and then answer questions honestly. Don't volunteer negative information, but also do not withhold it when asked.

Because if she is hired at your company, based at least partly on your recommendation, and then does not work out - you lose credibility, at best. The next time you recommend someone, perhaps someone you really do think is a good choice, they will doubt the recommendation. You will be seen as someone who can't identify good work. There is a large risk to you, and it is better to say nothing than to say good things that are not deserved.

Update: I read this that they worked together, OP moved to a new job, and then the former co-worker was fired, and was applying at OP's company. She is simply asking for the OP to be a general reference at other companies.

In that case, the hit to the OP's reputation is not so dire. But if you don't think she is that good of a worker, you should let her know that she shouldn't use you as a reference. You still need to give an honest response, and it doesn't sound like an honest response will be much of a recommendation.

If you don't feel comfortable giving a positive feedback about a person to the prospective employers ("I feel I wouldn't want to work with her in the future"), I suggest you don't agree to provide a reference altogether.

Since you already agreed to provide a reference, withdrawing your consent now would damage your relationship. I therefore recommend to provide a good (even if embellished) reference: if you embellish too much you risk nothing. On the other hand, if you give a bad reference which could be interpreted as not completely truthful, you risk a defamation lawsuit.

For example, you don't know for a fact why your colleague was fired. If you tell her prospective employer she was "actively fired", that could be interpreted as a hint that she performed poorly or was otherwise problematic, and you will have a hard time arguing in court that it's not what you meant.

You should only answer that you worked with her for what period and in what position.

Don't give any other information at all about how much you liked working together, the circumstances about why she left or how good or mediocre her work was.
These are all things which will impact her chances of getting the new job or not.

This is private information and you should not give that out.
Also if you give out this information and it gets her a rejection at a new job, she could sue you and your employer and win.

In the end: don't trust some random person on the internet, go to HR and ask them what to do.

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