I am sure that most people who are reading the blog have taken a call from someone who is looking for a reference. They would like a little insight on how talented the person was, would you rehire them, why did they leave, what were their strengths and weaknesses and plenty of other questions.
The question is how do you handle it? Clearly that question is somewhat easy to answer if the employee was terrific, a hard worker, made a difference and you were sorry to see them go.
The questions is what if:
- You only worked with them for six months?
- You didn’t have a great experience with them?
- They always called in sick?
- They missed tons of deadlines?
- You worked with them fifteen years ago.
- They were difficult to manage?
What do you say then?
Does it also depend on how well you know the person asking the questions?
I must admit I do struggle with this sometimes and frankly would rather NOT answer the questions rather than giving out a bad reference. On the other hand I tend not to hide my feelings about a co-worker and will mention things that need to be improved while I am working with them.
How do you handle these situations?
With more and more people in transition, this is leading to more and more of these types of calls.
I am really interested in your comments.
Jeremy Bromberg says:
I hide behind legal “concerns,” and tell the caller I’m only allowed to confirm employment dates.
Pat Billups says:
While legal concerns are foremost, I always try to put myself in the place of the caller. I think a lot of references are not called because the information received is frequently of little or no use. If I am interviewing a candidate, I need to know if he/she is a fit for my position. Today’s litigious society makes references a waste of time.
janet says:
I thought legally all you could confirm was that the person did work there, their position, and length of service. You can get into hot water saying negative things about an employee even if they are true.
SeanJJordan says:
In past jobs, I’ve only been able to confirm if they were eligible for rehire. And even then, I’ve had to pass the person on to HR in some cases due to legal concerns.
If I have something good to say, I say, “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but so-and-so is an amazingly awesome employee…” and give a couple of anecdotes. But only if I really feel that way.
If I have nothing good to say, I say, “It’s good to hear ___ moved on. We just weren’t a good fit.”
I would never badmouth anyone so they couldn’t get employment, but it does grate on me when I find out a former employee lied his or her way into a job and badmouthed ME for cutting their hours or terminating them for their unwillingness to do their job properly. Ah well.
Michael Halberstam says:
I agree with Sean,
I have been called several times in the past 12 months (unfortunately much more than usual) because so many people have been let go.
The main thing is to be careful. It’s unlikely you would get in any legal trouble for giving a positive reference. HR always warns me to just refer it to us when someone calls. I find this difficult when I know I have positive things to say about someone and may be able to help them find a new, exciting job. Additionally, on a number of occasions, I have forwarded resumes of people I believe in and told them I would be happy to act as a reference.
Experience tells me that if I am careful and if I am being questioned by someone with experience they will easily interpret anything I am saying. A seasoned HR person will ask the proper questions, in the proper order and know exactly what you are trying to say.
Lynn Stalone says:
This is a great topic. Unfortunately, in our litigious society, the legal issues outweigh everything unless you know the person asking for the reference very well – well enough to be certain that your comments will never be repeated. In that case, it is easy to be honest on any negatives, but this is a rare occasion. I would typically defer to not answering (“I can’t comment on that”), which I believe is fairly well understood to be a negative, or indicating that a certain facet may not be that individual’s area of strength. I have to agree with Michael on this one – a good HR person will ask the questions in a specific order and clearly know what all the “no comments” mean.
Sybil Stershic says:
Merrill, I agree with most of the comments that you need to be careful with this. But on a lighter note, check out Robert Thornton’s classic book: “Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations” (LIAR). It’s full of gems you can appreciate -despite the fact that you can’t say them these days. For example, “A man like him is hard to find” for the person who rarely shows up to work. “Her true ability is deceiving” for the person who lies & cheats. And “I can assure you no one would be better for this job” … you get the idea.