How to handle a negative reference without giving up the referencee?

January 8, 2008 3:36 PM

How to bail on a Job Interview due to bad reference for the employer (doing the hiring) without stepping on toes?

I work for company A and am applying for a job at company B. Sally CTO at company B is doing the interviewing and hiring. Sally CTO mentioned working with Kevin Coworker who is now at company A with me, as a reference.

After asking Kevin coworker about Sally CTO, he relayed many terrible things about their past experience together, which is an immediate red flag for me. However, since Sally CTO referred me to this person, I can't easily tell the headhunter or Sally CTO without negatively impacting Kevin Coworker who has helped me out.

How do I avoid wasting my time (I want to skip the interview) without alienating my headhunter (as I will appear flaky) while not selling out Kevin Coworker? I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow.

All advice appreciated.

posted by anonymous to work & money (8 comments total)

Don't. Do the interview anyway. It's great practice.

Think about it. Of all the job skills you have, being able to interview well is arguably more important than any other bullet point you could add to your resume.And skills require practice; interviewing skills need more practice than most of us ever get.
posted by browse at 3:44 PM on January 8, 2008 [5 favorites]

You could tell the headhunter that, after doing further research about the company, you are no longer interested, and ask the headhunter to use discretion when canceling the interview.

Or you could just go to the interview and see if the red flags are put to rest by your real-life interaction with Sally CTO. At the very least, it would be a rare opportunity to do a job interview where you aren't stressed or worried about getting the job, and it never hurts to make a good impression on people in your field, even if you do not eventually accept a position. Broadening your network is always a good thing.
posted by The World Famous at 3:46 PM on January 8, 2008

I can see two potential courses of action.

1. Bail on the interview without explanation to Sally CTO, to whom you do not owe an explanation. Then call your headhunter, to whom you DO owe an explanation and tell him or her, in confidence, that you have learned facts X, Y, and Z from a former coworker of Sally CTO, and that caused you to lose interest in working at Company B.

or

2. Go on the interview anyway. You lose nothing except a little bit of time, and you may have the opportunity to assess for yourself whether Kevin Coworker's account of his experience with Sally CTO may have been biased by other factors (personal or professional differences, whatever.) You may find that Company B looks like a great place to work, or you may find that Kevin was right and Sally CTO is a psycho hosebeast, but I can't see that ytou would have much to lose by taking the opportunity to assess this for yourself.
posted by dersins at 3:50 PM on January 8, 2008

Going on an interview is different than accepting a job. They always say, and it's very true, when you're going on a job interview, you're interviewing them, as well. I once almost didn't bother to pursue an opportunity at a company, because an ex-coworker of mine, who had worked with the man I'd be directly working with, warned me that the guy was a total jerk, and would make my life miserable.

I decided to go on the interview anyhow. In retrospect, I can see how my old coworker thought that working with this man would be a nightmare for me. In reality, however, it turned out to be one of the best jobs that I ever had, and I still very deeply respect the man that I worked for.

I would go on the interview. If Kevin Coworker turned out to be right, ah, well. If he's wrong, though, and Sally CTO turns out to be just the kind of difficult personality that you work really well with, that would be great, as well.

If I were you, I'd use the information you got from your coworker to formulate some targeted questions. What are you worried about with regard to her personality and track record?

If you're firmly of the belief that you could not work with this woman, then I would follow dersin's first advice. Just bail on the interview with Company B. "I am sorry, but my circumstances have changed and I won't be able to interview with you -- but I would like to sincerely thank you for the opportunity and your interest." Then give your headhunter a heads up, because I'm sure it will be appreciated.
posted by pazazygeek at 3:57 PM on January 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Given that the interview is tomorrow and it's pretty late in the day already (unless you're in Asia), I don't think you can get out of this without being rude.

That being said, you should be able to tell the headhunter the truth and ask them to turn down the interview on your behalf without implicating your coworker. That way, you won't seem flakey and you won't drop the dime on your coworker. That's how it is supposed to work with headhunters, but whether or not your trust the headhunter to be professional is another question. Though it is definitely in the headhunter's interest not to piss you (or your coworker) off--a headhunter is no good to anyone if he or she has a reputation for being untrustworthy.
posted by mullacc at 4:01 PM on January 8, 2008

Unless the interview requires a significant time/travel commitment or could potentially rope you into a series of follow-up interviews that you would also feel bad bailing on, as the above folks have said, there are few reasons not to go. If nothing else, things might go well with Company B and you'll have an offer you can use as leverage in negotiation with places you do want to work for (given a reasonable timeframe, of course).
posted by Nelsormensch at 4:06 PM on January 8, 2008

Everyone has an axe to grind, so it is probably worth it to go to the interview.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:07 PM on January 8, 2008

It's unprofessional not to go to the interview unless you are either legitimately sick or have found another job. As others have pointed out above, it needn't be a waste of time.
posted by ubiquity at 5:35 PM on January 8, 2008