Ygtjki

HR told you not to tell him

You're saying telling him is a bad idea.

And you're asking should I tell him?

What do you think?

Edit:
Best not to overthink this issue. I think with a little bit of common sense you can see the answer has already been given to you.

Best not to tell him.

HR seemed to be honest with you, they trusted you. As you describe the situation, you cannot do much to help your colleague.

But if you inform him, there is a significant chance that you shoot yourself in the foot. As you already fear, HR will find out, and they will surely not be happy.

In life, some things happen, and you cannot save everybody. Sad, but true. Let your colleague deal with his own problems, you deal with yours.

You should not tell your colleague.

It's not your responsibility to tell them. Given that you called this person a colleague rather than friend, you don't seem to have emotional closeness to this person. You don't owe them anything. One of the best skills for a professional is discerning when it's best to mind your own business.

Additionally, just because someone from HR told you, doesn't mean it's necessarily true. If you can't verify it, it's just gossip. Another great skill that will increase your professional value is not spreading gossip.

I see two problem statements here -

• You know something which you should not have known. Somebody breached the rule and told you some information which you should protect now. My Suggestion is don't tell it to your friend or else he and you both will be in trouble. Even if you tell him this information, it is not going to help him out. He will confront HR and lose reference as well. He wasn't getting the job anyway.


• 2nd, you want to help your colleague.
  Don't even hint it to the other person if he is not very close to him.
  Now, I would tell him that it is always a good idea to keep a backup plan if you don't get the job with the current organization. Also include that if offered, your first preference to take the job here. Again, don't bring up this conversation by yourself, but don't be afraid to tell him above in case he looks worried. If your colleague is not smart enough to take the hint, it is not your problem anymore.

I definitely agree you should not tell the colleague, and that it could be a test.

Now, if you really feel bad about it, you might go side ways about it and tell the colleague how you are yourself looking for other opportunities just in case you wouldn't get hired.
Might be seen as a lie, but actually might even be something good for your to do: until you have a signed contract in your hands, you're not hired.

Remember that scene from Matrix movie? About Neo visiting Oracle, once he quits Morpheus stopped Neo's attempt to share the visit results: "What was said was for you and for you alone".

So, you should take into account that HR can simply...

• ... check you "does he able to keep things in secret"


• ... trying to manipulate you "let him feel his importance, like he's Chosen one"


• And many other things you have no clue about yet

Anyway, from my point, this situation is not a good sign. Stay sharp.

Do not tell him, because there is:

1. No moral obligation to tell him - Since when do individuals have a moral right to know about their future at the company, instantly upon its being decided? It's not your job, not your information, & not your decision to disclose.




2. No practical reason to tell him - What I've not seen other answers mention is that once he finds out, he has no reason to believe that you knew the information, and therefore no reason to ask you if you did know it. Since your possession of this information is both improper & unlikely, you don't have to fear a confrontation with him once he learns that he's not hired. In fact, if you tell him & he confronts HR as you suspect, you have probably sabotaged your future at the company.

Interns should feel no guarantee of future hire unless one is given by the company, therefore no injustice is being done to this man by not hiring him.