Moral dilemma re recruitment

[SimpleComforts]

Thankfully hypothetical atm but it could become real, if events pan out as I expect?

What do you do when someone you know from a previous job submits a good application but you really don't want them in the role, based on your previous (fairly recent) experience of them.

This is senior position and the person I expect to apply will, I'm sure submit a strong application based in truth but with some exaggeration and a lot of "building her part"i.e she was involved in the project but not nearly so much as she says she was.

If it got to interview, she would almost certainly do well, excellent presentation skills and believes her own PR.

However, IRL, she's lazy, causes enormous conflict among staff , upsets everyone who's ever worked for her, passes off other's work as her own and blames others for her mistakes.

I really don't want to work with her again and I certainly don't want to manage her, but on paper, she's a good fit for the role, it would be a great opportunity for her and it's very close to where she lives.

You’re overthinking. Just record plausible reasons not to select her!

If you are hiring and interviewing I can’t believe this is even a question! There are ways and means around it!
Stop being so wet.

In my last job my line manager gave her notice. As soon as the role was advertised, my previous line manager from a different company applied. She even emailed me to ask if she should and could I give any inside info that would help.
She'd actually been one of the reasons I left, but didn't know that, she thought we were friends!
Anyway new boss, who was going to be on the recruiting panel for her replacement, came straight to me and said "xxx has applied, obviously from your previous place of work, what do you think?" So I was honest, not personal, but factual about how difficult people had found her to work with, and I think she lacked certain skills vital to the new role.
She didn't even get shortlisted, record showed she had insufficient experience in the area I'd mentioned, in case she asked for feedback.
It's valid intel in the process if you found someone difficult to work with previously. You're already there, other person isn't, don't recreate the clash.

Are they the sort who would complain -- then all the more reason not to shortlist.

I hope that you stand your ground with honest scoring, on basis that you have worked with them before and used that personal experience to inform your decision. It's best if you can think of specific experiences that demonstrate how she was lazy, disruptive, unsupportive, not a team player, etc.

Makes you wonder how people like that get references, really. We had one guy change his spots, he had a terrible rep but was treated more like a needy child than the demanding git he could be, and he softened, became quite pleasant, due to the kind treatment. he STILL fell out with our boss, eventually, but it took a few years, and left the team on good terms.

We have the exact issue in my workplace currently.
A previously employee has applied to come back after taking a year off to pursue other things.
Our new manager knows him from a previous workplace and does not want to interview him due to previous falling out.
Previously employee was fantastic at his job and all the staff bar the new manager loved working with him.
I guess ultimately it's down to the hiring manager though.

It will depend on your workplace policy if you have to interview them if they meet minimum criteria on paper, but bottom line you’d be mad to offer her the job. It depends on your workplace whether you’re up front about that or whether you’re going to have to grill her in interview to show she’s inflating her part in projects.

In my workplace I simply wouldn’t interview because I wouldn’t waste their time or mine.

Surely you can't interview everyone who meets the essential requirements?

Be really specific on how you grade people for interview and if that doesn't naturally weed them out then focus on questions that will pull out her weeknessess because they will pull out the same issues in the other candidates. No one wants to work with someone who takes the credit for other's work, it makes for a very unhappy team.

Make sure you have HR in the interview. Talk to them beforehand about your concerns and they will (should) advise you how to handle it.

HR are there to protect the company. They will make sure you are covered.

Isn't this similar to following up a reference from a previous employer and finding that it isn't positive? In this case, OP, you're the referee and, with your knowledge of their work performance, you can't give them a good reference.

I had a similar dilemma last week, applicant from someone I had previously worked with, for a role in the department I work in but not a direct report. I can’t stand the woman, she was lazy and disorganised and spent a lot of time gossiping with her bestie who worked in the admin office, often about me.
But when I was asked by our hiring manager I was able to state 3 clear objective reasons why she would not meet our requirements, this was enough for them and they would not waste time interviewing.
I know that this may not be fair but we are smallish team and there is a lot of choice in the market currently.

Is this the NHS? Sure sounds like it.

@justoffshift

Is this the NHS? Sure sounds like it.

It's not but a very similar public sector set up, except that it's run like like of small businesses so there isn't really an HR department, only HR advisors.

....only HR advisors who give the advice to follow the paper trail and scoring, as I've described.

Will you be the only interviewer and are there other candidates?

If so you tailor your questions to their strength and her weakness