If a friend asks you to vouch for them for a job, only say what’s true. Your name is on it too.

A recommendation is a loan of your credibility. Whoever asks is borrowing the trust you built with the person you are speaking to, and if the picture does not hold up, the cost lands on both of you. Saying only what you can stand behind is not disloyalty, it is what makes your word worth borrowing.

Name the specific things you have actually seen them do well, and stay quiet about what you have not. If you cannot say much, say that honestly and kindly to your friend first. A narrow true recommendation carries further than a broad vague one.