| Topic Name: |
refrence |
| Message Name: |
about reference checks |
| Date Posted: |
11/27/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
For references, I use colleages, my direct reports, and people from previous employers (so don't burn bridges and keep the networking up). I also supply names from volunteer and extracurricular activities, as well as high ranking people that are my personal friends (though I don't make that obvious). Depending on the situation, I may inundate them with references which I know will be good, just to show I have nothing to hide, but avoid giving too many (or any) names of my present supervisors.
Also, I read somewhere that references are limited in what they can say. If they present a bad picture (though it's difficult to know), you can sue them (although this is also a costly and gut wrenching choice). Does anyone know if this is true and what are the boundaries? |
| Message: |
It is NOT illegal to give a negative reference. The information given must be accurate to the best of the provider's knowledge, so they can't just make up stuff. But if you apply for a job, say, dealing with numbers, but in your previous job you messed up the bookkeeping every week, your supervisor can certainly say, "Joe is a great guy, but I realized that he was not good with numbers, because I had to correct his bookkeeping every week." They can also offer opinions. For example, in most cases it would be legal for the person to say, "In my opinion, Joe was rude to many of our customers, and when I tried to speak with him about it, I thought he was rude to me, too." But they can't say, "Joe embezzled a million bucks" if it's not true. I recommend "The Complete Reference-Checking Handbook, published by AMACOM books--great information, forms, case histories, and exercises.
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