Post by Oleg Vishnepolsky

I made an OFFER to someone. I then get a call from his former BOSS, whom I knew from one of my previous jobs. He says - “Oleg, the guy you made the offer to is terrible, he screwed everything up here. I was going to FIRE him. I just marked him as ineligible to HIRE." "Ineligible to HIRE" means it goes into HR records and if anyone ever contacts them for a recommendation, they get "ineligible to HIRE". Which effectively black-lists a person for life. I said - "unmark him now. You as his manager are ultimately responsible for whatever happened. And you open yourself to lawsuits." I did not rescind the offer, my opinion of the candidate did not change. Firstly, his prior track record was immaculate except for this alleged screw up. Secondly, people are allowed mistakes, we are all human. It is what we learn from mistakes that matters. Thirdly, I learned to trust my own instincts – this candidate was the real thing. Needless to say, I was right. The employee was stellar, and within a year I promoted him to a technical management position. He is still there, years after I left – appreciated by every manager and colleague. As for that screwing everything up, I learned later it was not his doing at all ! Trust your own instincts ! Agree ?