If a person I referred to a job gets in trouble, will that reflect badly on me?

The short answer is possibly. It would depend on a few different circumstances to the extent of how badly it would reflect. If this person is a family member, or very close friend, it could get awkward. If you referred an ex-coworker who has always been a great employee, but something out of character happened to that person, etc. maybe not as much. It also depends on the person you report to and who they reported to and the company where you work. This is why many people do not like to refer people for jobs even if there is a bonus or finders fee (which many companies offer). Companies that accept referrals should continue to do their due diligence and thoroughly interview as they would unknown candidates, so in the event something doesn’t work out, they are accountable not the person referring the candidate.

In a way this is similar to a recruiter sending a resume for consideration to their clients. The recruiter is in most cases working on contingency and “presents” candidates that fall within the companies job requirements. The company still has to interview and vet along with the recruiter. We get paid if they hire the candidate only and provide guarantees for that candidate. If a candidate doesn’t work out, many times if not always, the recruiter is blamed. We have our guarantees, etc. but its beyond that…even if the recruiter does the right thing by the client to the best of their ability, no one wants to take responsibility for a bad hire, so recruiters become the fall guy even if the client thoroughly puts the candidate through a series of interviews, tests, etc. I’m fortunate that my clients understand the business and as long as I do what I am suppose to do contractually, they are typically sympathetic.

That may happen in this instance…people are always looking for someone to take accountability, but sometimes things just happen no matter how hard you work to make sure they are good candidates or how well you know your friend. When you are dealing with people, you can never be sure how things will work out.

Remember no good deed goes unpunished!

Hope this helps!

Laurie Jane