Dear Liz,What is the story with job references? How many do I need, and how recent must they be? Do they all have to be past bosses? Thanks, Craig
Dear Craig,
You'll need at least three references per 'shift,' so if you expect to have several job opportunities going at once, you may want to accumulate six or eight reference-givers for your list. That way, you won't burn out the same three people with calls and email messages.
The best references are accessible, credible and knowledgeable about you. That means that the lofty CEO of your last company might not be a great choice, if he spends ninety percent of his time in the Caribbean and away from phones and email. The reference-giver should be credible; that means your slacker friends from the landscaping firm might not be great choices, either. You need someone who can speak knowledgeably about you. I have made reference-checking calls in the past and had the reference-giver ask "Now, let's see, Mandy...blonde girl? Curly hair?" That's not good.
Because it's not so easy to instantly assemble six or eight references on the spot, reference-cultivation is a career-long exercise. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to getting your references ready to go. A bad reference - that means not just a negative report, but an unavailable reference, or one whose contact info has changed since you checked in last, or one who doesn't quite remember you - can tank your opportunity for a job, so it pays to take this piece of the puzzle seriously.
Don't provide personal references unless the employer asks you to. If you're strapped for work-related references, go back in time, or look to former co-workers, vendors and customers. You can have references from fifteen years ago on your list (along with more recent ones; it wouldn't be great to have your most recent reference a person who worked with you five or six years ago). Your references don't have to be supervisors. At least one boss is imperative, and two or three are even better, if they're all card-carrying members of your fan club.
If you're in doubt at all about that last point, get someone to call and check references for you. I have been appalled more than once by a left-handed compliment given by a trusted reference ("Well, Joe is a great guy - really great guy, I love him like a brother - but he's not all that business-savvy.") It is unethical to agree to be a reference for a person and not to tell the person that you intend to slime him, but folks do it anyway, so you don't want to take chances.
Best -- Liz
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1 comments:
I wish we could do away with the whole notion of job references. First, any candidate who has half a brain submits only those who'll speak positive of them. Second, as companies keep disappearing, it's harder to get real company phone numbers.
They're especially problematic for career changers. Let's suppose you want to change from being a techie to a travel agent. You've done deep soul searching and computers just don't do it for you any more. You're much more into planning trips and travel bargains. However, none of your references ever saw you doing bookings and they don't know the language of travel agents.
Furthermore, employers are in a double bind. If they don't check references they can be sued for negligent hiring. Yet they get lots of counsel to not say too much. As a manager, I find the process more useless than fruitful. Besides, some people who other managers told me weren't that great were some of my best people ever. (And vice versa.)
I wish instead of states making laws that candidates must sign their rights away, we'd trash reference checking. I hate how so much of seeking employment ties us to who we were, not who we are and who we can be.
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