| HTML Block | Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete a reference for the person who has applied with us at the Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon Ski & Snowboard School. We value your comments regarding this applicant. |
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| Reference Provider Information | |
| Your Name | Kathleen Smith |
| Your Email | Email hidden; Javascript is required. |
| Your Title | Wildlife Biologist |
| Company Name | US Army Corps of Engineers |
| Type of Reference | Employment Reference |
| Work Related - Reference Check Information | Thank you for including the person's name and answering these questions about your experience working with this person. |
| Name of employee | Neely (Franki) Phelan |
| What was the person’s title and/or job duties? | SCA wildlife intern - assisted with wildlife surveys of rare and sensitive species in the Willamette Valley, Oregon for 8-months. |
| What are/were the dates this person worked for your company? | April – November 2025 |
| Reason for leaving employment | Position eliminated |
| Is this person eligible for rehire? | Yes |
| Key descriptors | Franki is incredibly responsible, reliable, and hard working. She shows up ready to work with a great attitude! She is willing to work late nights or early mornings. Franki is punctual, and she comes prepared to get the job done. Franki goes out of her way to include her peers. She can easily identify her peer’s strengths and gives them an opportunity to succeed while working alongside them on a project. She is also exceptional at giving other people credit (even when Franki did most of the work). This behavior establishes her genuine character and kindness, and people want to work with her as a result. |
| How would you rate your experience working with this person? | 5-excellent |
| Comments regarding your experience working with this person (not required) | Franki is a really hard worker and has a strong desire to learn and succeed in the wildlife field and in everything she does. She has an amazing attitude, even when things are not going well in the field or she is faced with a difficult task(s); she exceeds expectations every time! Franki is really receptive to feedback and willing to learn new things. Franki has excellent leadership skills and people want to follow her lead. Franki has a lot of experience working in remote areas, hiking, biking, and backpacking under difficult conditions. |
| Please rate this person's ability to handle conflict with employees and/or customers? | 5-excellent |
| Comments regarding handling conflict (not required) | Franki gets along with everyone! She worked closely with another SCA wildlife intern, and they got along really well. Franki goes out of her way to include her peers. She can easily identify her peer’s strengths and gives them an opportunity to succeed while working alongside them on a project. She is also exceptional at giving other people credit (even when Franki did most of the work). This behavior establishes her genuine character and kindness, and people want to work with her as a result. We have a staff of about 9-12 people at our office during any one time. Franki got along well with all her colleagues and with me. She was always professional, kind, driven, and conscientious about completing her work. |
| Please rate this person's dedication or engagement to their work | 5-excellent |
| Comments about dedication or engagement to work (not required) | Franki is passionate about learning new things and engaging. She will be an excellent fit for your team. |
| Please rate this person's willingness or desire to improve their performance at work | 5-excellent |
| Comments regarding willingness or desire to improve performance (not required) | Franki is incredibly receptive to feedback from peers or supervisors. |
| What would you consider this person’s strengths and/or weaknesses? | Franki is a genuine person who loves learning, adventure, and leading people or being led. She likes planning and process. Franki is incredibly responsible, reliable, and hard working. She has a great attitude! Since this position does not involve wildlife biology, I will try to translate areas where Franki could use some improvement into what she would be doing for you. I think Franki is logical and makes good decisions - I think she just needs more leadership opportunities and challenging situations where she learns to trust herself. She will make the right decision or learn from her mistakes, but she just needs more experience. She also is working on relaying information to her supervisors and peers in a more condensed fashion. She really improved on this during her internship, and I suspect she continues to make great strides. |
| Is there anything else you feel would be important for us to know, and if so, please describe? | I would hire Franki back in a heartbeat! She was an amazing part of our team! Her internship ended, and if we had a wildlife technician position open, then I would hire her back asap. You will not be disappointed if you hire Franki!!! |
| Personal Reference Information |