It’s perfectly natural to assume that when an employee recommends someone for employment, he’ll do a good job; and, to be perfectly candid, most of the time it’s true. But there are those occasions where an employee is just trying to do a favor for a friend who really needs a job, without thinking about the consequences. Common sense would seem to suggest that no employee would intentionally put his own job at risk by recommending someone who is more likely to fail than to succeed.
Another element that plays into this sort of situation is the possibility of a mismatch. The employee, trying to merely help a friend, recommends him for a position for which he simply isn’t qualified—not a happy situation for any of the parties concerned. What to do? Well, first of all, any employer would be foolish not to be grateful for an in-house recommendation from an employee. The key, however, is proceeding with a careful reference check—just as though the candidate happened to walk into the personnel office by chance. Most of the time, recommendations like these work out; but, like any hiring decision, it’s far better to be safe than not to check and be sorry on those rare occasions when the employee-recommended candidate simply isn’t qualified for the job.