I did this once about 8 years ago, and I bet you can all
guess how it ended. A girl I knew from college LOVED to network and would
literally reach out to everyone she “knew” for favors. She got hold of me
after graduation and asked me to help her out getting a job at my company at
the time. I did, and she got the job, but then quit after a mere 3 months because she wanted to
do more work than “get coffee and take meeting notes.” Yeah girl we’re 21 years old with a paying job, are you seriously
complaining? I don't know how much I was an influence on her application, but it was still embarrassing for me. This person went from job to
job over the course of the next few years, so when she approached me again
about 5 years ago for a job at a different company I was working at (my current
job) I said “I’d try” and then didn’t actually try. She may have found out about
this because she stopped talking to me altogether after that. She’s still job
hopping to this day, so I hardly feel guilty.
I’m always happy to help someone get a job (practice
interviews, reviewing resumes, etc.) but I’m uncomfortable attaching my name to
someone when they ask me to “put a good word in for them” at the company I work
for.
A childhood/HS friend of mine recently reached out to me to
let me know he applied for a position at my company and is hoping that I can
help put a good word in for him. I really like this person but I know he too
has been going from job to job in the last few years. Not that it’s a bad thing to try new
jobs until you’re happy, but I don’t know if he’s like my old college acquaintance,
quitting jobs left and right or worse, getting fired for unknown reasons… I
literally have no idea what his work ethic is like. He won’t even really tell
me what he’s looking to do which tells me he just wants a job, which tells me
he could easily leave this job as soon as the next thing pops up. My job isn’t
just a job to me, it’s a sweet career where I can do something I love as well
as slack off and look at shark gifs on TK, and I don’t want to ruin my good rep
by referring bad employees to the company.
WWTK do? Feel free to share similar stories because I’m bored and
want to read stuff.