As a recruiter, you may often be put in a position to go out on a limb for a colleague, friend, or relative to hire or refer someone who may not be the best candidate.  By doing this, are you really doing a disservice to the employer? Does this degrade your reputation?  Does this hurt or help you in the long run?

Even the most competent, charming and capable people have become unemployed in today's economic environment.  The underemployed and unemployed are attempting to leverage ever-expanding networks for access to those on the other side of the connection.  Requests to network for employment must show up in your in-box almost every day.  Whether you are compelled to offer aid because of an overdue IOU or an empathetic gesture, or simply because of a personal relationship, you may compromise your values and reputation by doing so. 

In this era of access to individuals through social networking websites, web-based services and search agents, it’s easy to check out anyone and everyone.  Does what you learn about someone affect whether there is a courtesy introduction or an actual referral for a position?  What do you do with unsubstantiated, but possibly damaging, information you learn on the Internet?  These questions pose a moral and ethical dilemma.  In an effort to change the course of someone’s career, recruiters in this position may look the other way.  Short of impersonation or misrepresentation, knowingly ignoring detrimental information even in the interest of doing a favor is wrong. 

Traditionally, three people are involved in the hiring equation: job seeker, hiring manager and recruiter. But there is often a fourth—a facilitator, the person who connects the candidate, hiring authority and recruiter.  It may be a simple introduction, or a certification as to the candidates' competencies, moral character, qualifications and ability to “leap tall buildings in a single bound.”  Putting aside traditional employee referral programs, which might reek of nepotism and favoritism, personal referrals extend beyond those boundaries and the employment relationship.  A personal referral does not put the referrers career on the line.  So, why not?  Is claiming ignorance later a suitable defense?  And how does one decline a request for a referral?

To maneuver through ethical dilemmas, we must first define the term ethics.  Certainly, the definition and interpretation will vary from individual to individual.  Lawrence M. Hinman, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Values Institute at the University of San Diego, has defined ethics as the explicit philosophical reflection on moral beliefs and practices. He stipulates that ethics is a conscious stepping back and reflecting on morality. According to Wikipedia, ethics is an attempt to answer questions like: What actions are good and what are evil, and how can we tell the difference? How should we make difficult decisions that might help or hurt other people?

There is no single correct way to handle such a situation ethically. You may offer the referral, but not an “unconditional certification.”  Or,  you may refer the potential candidate but state that you have not personally checked his or her background. Which gesture you offer will depend on the circumstances.

We all have a responsibility to uphold the reputation of the recruiting profession. Our daily business practices reveal a professional standard against which we all are measured. When in doubt, offer a courtesy introduction, but not the referral.