Should I give a reference to a former colleague

polgara

Absolutely do not give a reference on headed paper - contact the individual and the new employer and say that you are able to give a personal reference - ie how long you worked with this individual, and in what context, but you are not able to provide the additional information.

anamenottaken

Sharon87 wrote: »

Explain to the new company you're happy to give a reference over the phone, but you are too busy to fill in the forms!

Do not even give a reference on the phone (given the questions they are asking) unless it is a personal reference (and clearly this is not really what the potential employer wants). Records (taped or simply written notes) of phone calls would be held by the person receiving the call. That can come back to bite you on the b-m.

In essence - as far as giving references is concerned, you do not have the authority to speak or write as an employee of the company.

anamenottaken

[quote=[Deleted User];67210984]Thank you for all your help. I think I will just have to say no to her unless I can give a reference for her over the phone.[/QUOTE]

As I wrote above - before I read the quoted post - do not give any kind of phone reference which could be considered to be backed by the company which employs you.

If your former colleague doesn't want the reference request to go to HR, think what the reason is - that the company is not expected to give a good reference. That means you cannot give a reference on their behalf - phoning (especially in company time, using their equipment) included.

You may also find that your employer has a policy of "no individual is to give references, they must all go through HR".

bugslet

[quote=[Deleted User];67210937]Hi BoJangles,

To be honest I really should not be the one to fill out the form as in the form it asks whether we would like to reemploy her and why she left, her daily duties at work and job title etc. None of this should be given by me and I do not think I hold the correct information too.[/QUOTE]

As an employer, I'd suggest that it's a definite no-no to use Company letter-head in this instance.

All you can do is e-mail back and explain that you were a colleague and anser the questions from that perspective.

I wouldn't feel too bad, this person must realise they are putting you in an awkward position.

[Deleted User]

Dear all,

Thank you!
I spoke to her at near 2pm regarding this and she insisted that it is not a big deal to use the company header and she even quoted some regulations to back her up.....

I told her I cannot give reference that way but I would give the recruiter a call saying that I am willing to provide reference over the phone, and after reading all your comments I will definitely emphasis that it will be just a personal reference. [just a p.s: she actually filled out the form herself and saying that I just needed to forward it to the recruiter....]:(:(:(:(:(

RuthnJasper

[quote=[Deleted User];67211555]Dear all,

Thank you!
I spoke to her at near 2pm regarding this and she insisted that it is not a big deal to use the company header and she even quoted some regulations to back her up.....

I told her I cannot give reference that way but I would give the recruiter a call saying that I am willing to provide reference over the phone, and after reading all your comments I will definitely emphasis that it will be just a personal reference. [just a p.s: she actually filled out the form herself and saying that I just needed to forward it to the recruiter....]:(:(:(:(:([/QUOTE]

Don't forward it. You don't have any obligation to this person - it sounds to me like she is bullying you and taking advantage of your compliant nature. Don't let it make you feel bad.

Either say no outright, or offer to provide a general reference on her as a person but explaining that you are not writing as an employer or line manager.

Don't let her make you feel bad. You have not done anything wrong. x

tripled

I recently had a reference request with a form like the one you described drop into my company email account. I responded from my personal email account and noted on both the email response and reference that it was a personal reference.

I would agree with the advice above not to use headed paper or associate it to the company. If you want to provide a personal reference, including in writing, I would have thought that would be fine as long as it's clear that's what it is.

tomtontom

Out of interest, what regulations did she quote to you?

I'd be refusing her request and telling her not to contact me again!

InsideInsurance

You can offer to do a personal reference for her rather than a company one as you arent authorised to do a company reference. Certainly dont put it on headed paper etc.

As a contractor/ consultant I have given reference for a number of people, normally it is filling in a questionnaire and so there is no question of headed paper or not, but I am very clear that whilst I worked with them at X I am giving the reference as a director of Y but that I came to know them whilst providing services to X

Acc72

As others have said, you can give a personal character reference to anybody however it sounds as though you do not have the authority to give a company reference even if you wanted to (and if you did, could easily lead to a problem situation - especially given the length of time you have been with the company).


It sounds as though this person is not your friend so simply block their number and ignore them.