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References
January 11, 2002
At some point in the course of Human Events, which includes
your career, somebody is not going to like you. When that person is your boss, bad things can happen that could
follow you around like a persistent yellow jacket, ready to sting when you're
not looking. Is their anything you can do to either avoid the pain of a
bad reference, or negate its significance? Sure. First, if you
have a previous Employer that is giving you a bad reference, you probably know
who it is. If you were fired you know
why, and if you quit without notice in a barrage of expletives undeleted, your
boss may recall exactly what you said.
Knowing where your problem areas were (if they are reflected in your
resume and references) is the first step in responding to them. For example, if you quit your last Job in your current field
due to a personality conflict with your Employer, you can explain in your first
Interview that the problem wasn't one of competency but style. Despite your best attempts to make things work,
sometimes people are unable to work together.
There are many different styles of doing things that are not always
compatible. Luckily most Employers (and even truer for HR managers) will
only answer reference questions that can be answered with facts like date of
hire, title, Job duties, and date of termination. To say any more opens up the liability can of worms, which is
filled with time consuming and costly lawsuits. So it is unlikely that even an Employer with an ax to grind will
use you as the whetting stone - it's just too dangerous. Furthermore, your prospective Employer knows you are
switching Jobs, so the last one couldn't have been all peaches and cream. Be positive and focus on the tasks you
accomplished at the 'bad Job', while pointing to the competencies you developed
at other Jobs where you have references that are decidedly in your favor. Lastly, always remember to send copies of your resume to the
people you have listed as references several days before your Interview so they
can review it with plenty of time to spare before they get called by the
Interviewer. Nothing is more
embarrassing to all parties involved than when you are contending for a Job and
your reference (and possible friend) has to fumble through an ill-conceived response
to a few simple questions about your Job performance. This should be a time when your 'Employability' should come
shining through - don't let ill-preparedness cloud the issue. Finally, if you really think that some vision of Employer
Past is mucking up your current Jobhunt, try out a site like Myreferences.com. They will call up past Employers and check
what they're saying about you, both good, bad, and the subtle shades in
between.
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Materials written by John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.