Salvaging a Future Work Reference

Over at Ask a Manager, Alison Green takes a question (Item 1) from someone who frequently interacts with young employees from another company. He's troubled by the prospect of having to give recommendations for young employees who are picking up bad habits from a dysfunctional workplace.

As part of her reply, Green offers the below script:

This isn't something I plan to bring up again, but I want to give you a heads-up: a lot of people in your role end up asking me for recommendations to go back to school for X, and when I write recommendations I'm asked about things like punctuality and respect for management. I see the tough management situation you're dealing with; I'm not blind to that. But I want to be up-front that if you ever do need a recommendation from me, I'm going to get asked about that stuff and have to be honest, and in some cases haven't felt like I could write the recommendation at all. I never want to be explaining this to someone for the first time when they're asking for a recommendation, and I think it's fairer to say it early on while you can still do something with that information. It's completely up to you what you do with it! I just want it out there so no one is surprised by it later.

I am really impressed by how this accounts for the self-interest of both parties, while also navigating several difficult aspects of the letter-writer's situation.

It also reminds me of a similar (stern) warning I got when I was a sophomore in college. After I looked into what the word professional meant beyond the context of sport, it helped me overcome a blind spot I had due to my blue collar background. From that angle, I can vouch for the soundness of this advice myself!

-- CAV