To be honest in my reference letter?

[IamAporcupine]

I have been asked to provide a reference letter for an employee who recently left my team. She has already been offered a new job in a completely different field. This is fortunate as her performance in her previous role was very poor; we lost time and money thanks to her lack of skills.

The form has a "would you re-employ this person?" I want to be honest and just say "No". I can explain that I believe this field of work was not for her, and that she will very likely perform well in her new job.

AIBU?

Well yes, she said she knew XYZ techniques, and she didn't. We provided as much support as we could, discussed her protocols, etc but she was just not interested or organised or capable enough.

Unfortunately this is not that uncommon in STEM lab based work within academia.
it's very difficult to assess practical skills during an interview. And the nature of the job/environment means that's there might not always be someone else to train you.

God I hope I would never become the type of person who said No to this question for spite.

You had a responsibility too to train, to support, to coach effectively. You did not. As a manager I know thay sometimes it doesn't matter what you do the person wont work out but you get to the end of their time, give a basic reference and send them on their way. Don't be a dick.

Thank you

What would be the difference with the first question? ("Are you aware of any aspects of the applicant conduct, work, or character which could detract from the required work performance")

It is not in the least spiteful to be diplomatically honest in this situation. You risk marring your reputation if you are not honest. It's not as if your lived experience of working with her will cause her to lose the job she now has acquired.

Jesus Christ you are overthinking this.

No one actually cares about your opinion on this. You’re giving it a lot of unnecessary thought (are you not breaking confidentiality by discussing it on here in any case? Would your boss be happy if they saw this?)

Realistically you are 1 out of 3 potential references and therefore the weight of your reference is diluted. If you are really faffing around so much, just refuse to complete the reference.

It depends why they were such a poor employee. If it was something that was their fault, e.g. really lazy, often late, rude to colleagues, told lies, then I’d probably be honest. If it was just that they were in the wrong job and just couldn’t do it, I’d be kinder because they might be fine in a different role.

I would leave it blank. Our company only gives a reference to their position in the company and time spent with the company.