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The ethics of recruitment

Tuesday 27 February, 2024

clouds drifting in over mountain peaks

You are on a hiring panel to fill a senior position at your organisation. You recognise the top candidate from a previous job and remember hearing rumours when at that company that the candidate had been accused of serious misconduct, but the matter was dealt with in private and no information was revealed.

Do you reveal the rumours to the panel?

Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

Please share your ethical dilemmas with us - we can post them anonymously. You can email your dilemmas to  dilemma@ethics.org.au

Comments

There are 3 comments for The ethics of recruitment.

Re: The ethics of recruitment

Tuesday 27 February, 2024
by J
I wouldn't reveal the information to the panel but I would ensure that a question along the lines of the following is included in the interview:
Is there any other relevant matter that we should know about you that you would not like us to hear from anyone other than you?
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Re: The ethics of recruitment

Wednesday 28 February, 2024
by Ian S
Ask the question of the candidate: Are there any reasons why we should not offer you the job? Then: What would your pervious employer say about you? Get permission from the candidate to get ref checks and call the previous employer.
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Re: The ethics of recruitment

Thursday 29 February, 2024
by Jack
Although people can change and you don't want to make assumptions, I think you need to assume that if they could do something egregious in the past, they could probably do it again - a leopards spots never change. This could be a risk. If they didn't admit to the previous behaviour ( as the comments above are encouraging), I would suggest not hiring the person. I wouldn't trust them.
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