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" A former colleague (now a friend) asked me to be a job reference. I like her, but I supervised her, and her work leaves a lot to be desired. Should I lie, or is there a nice way to turn her down? It&amp;#039;s better to opt out gracefully than to lie about someone&amp;#039;s abilities. P.S. This is tricky, but gently refuse with something like: &amp;quot;You know I think the world of you and our friendship, but I&amp;#039;d rather not be a reference.&amp;quot; If she insists and you&amp;#039;re called by her potential employer, stick to the facts and be as upbeat as possible, but don&amp;#039;t lie. And if you&amp;#039;re asked about a skill you think she&amp;#039;s lacking, you can always find something positive to say: &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t feel I can address that part of her job, but she&amp;#039;s great with clients!&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/career/q-and-a/a21313/job-reference/>