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I recently discovered that an acquaintance of mine (Bob) might be applying for a position in the same group that I'm in. While I am on good terms with Bob, he is not very personable and I do not want to be working with him.

Here is the situation:

• Bob already works in the same (large) company as me, in a different group on another floor. We occasionally chat on the company messaging program. We talk outside of work every once in a while.


• I have been at the company for just over a year. Bob has been here about half a year longer. We are both inexperienced hires, and if he were to join my group, we would have the same title.


• I don't know for certain if he will be applying for a spot on my team or another team, but I have strong reason to believe it would be mine. He has not applied (given his resume) yet, but probably will soon.


• Being hired into my group would be a career shift for Bob. He studied a similar area, but wants to transition to the career path that I'm on.


• While I think if interviewed, he might do well enough on technical portions, I don't think his technical skills are on par with a similar candidate who studied in my field. For this inexperienced position I don't think that will have a major impact. I don't think he would do well on soft skill portions of the interview.


• I think that if hired, Bob would be tolerable to my other team members, but not liked by at least a couple of them (about 9-16 on the team, if you count a closely related team). I would probably be the person onboarding him.


• I really like my job and my team, and I think Bob being put on my team would change that.

Is it appropriate to approach my boss (or someone else? HR?) and express my concerns? If so, how do I do it?

Is it appropriate to approach my boss (or someone else? HR?) and express my concerns?

In short, no.

Unless you are in a position to approve or make recommendations for new team members, I would stay out of it, especially since Bob has not officially applied.

You may be entirely correct about Bob, but it is simply too risky to complain about a peer based on what appears to be a gut feeling.

The main reason you give for not recommending Bob is that he is "not personable," which is highly subjective. Your other criticisms don't seem to have basis in fact -- you don't point to any specific circumstances in which Bob failed or performed poorly.

There's no harm in providing unsolicited positive feedback, but unsolicited negative feedback can come back to hurt you.

Let's say, for example, you were to approach your boss and say everything you say here. And let's say your boss hires Bob anyway, and he's a great fit with the team. That could make you look petty, wrong, or otherwise not credible. Your boss may value your opinion less after that.

Then there's Bob -- if Bob finds out about your feedback it's likely he'd be blindsided and react negatively to you. Especially if your feedback cost Bob a new opportunity. Bob may then tell his story to others, and suddenly you have a poor reputation among a number of people you wouldn't have before.

Certainly if your boss asks you about Bob, you can give feedback, but even in that case, make sure any negative comments are grounded in objective fact as much as possible.

If Bob does end up on your team, make sure to keep careful record of your interactions -- after all, it's more appropriate for you to provide negative (albeit constructive) feedback when you're working with that person directly on a regular basis.