Arthur C. Clarke wrote a great essay on the challenges of rating systems, in "The Servant Problem - Oriental Style" (included in The View from Serendip: http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780345271082-1)
It's a bit more nuanced than this, but the fundamental dilemma is:
• An overly negative review essentially dooms someone to never working again.
• An overly positive one leads to sticky questions from the next person to hire them (whom you probably know socially).
Clarke's solution is to write ... very closely ... an accurate but difficult to parse recommendation. As I recall, the essay ends with him noting that a household servant he'd dismissed some years before (pursuing a "flim" career) had since returned, to the pleasure of both parties.
Sadly I can't find a copy online -- seems that at a $1.78 purchase price the friction of commerce is excessive here for a 50 year old essay.
It's a bit more nuanced than this, but the fundamental dilemma is:
• An overly negative review essentially dooms someone to never working again.
• An overly positive one leads to sticky questions from the next person to hire them (whom you probably know socially).
Clarke's solution is to write ... very closely ... an accurate but difficult to parse recommendation. As I recall, the essay ends with him noting that a household servant he'd dismissed some years before (pursuing a "flim" career) had since returned, to the pleasure of both parties.
Sadly I can't find a copy online -- seems that at a $1.78 purchase price the friction of commerce is excessive here for a 50 year old essay.