Reference letter 1

[Schumber]

Guys,
I have been applying for IT jobs in several local autorities (Council IT jobs) for several months. Although I do have many years of good experience and my skills fits most of these jobs I have applied for, I never got an interview. The only thing that I can think is that one of my previous employers is giving not satisfactory reference about me. Is there anything I can do to check if it is the case ?

Thanks
Eric

 

[DrJavaJoe]

Personally I maintain friendships with former co-workers and in my case even bosses. I don't have any difficulty letting them know that I have used them as a reference and to expect a call and they can do the same. Now as far as using mom as a former co-worker, that's fine too, the system isn't fool proof and I wouldn't hire based on the reference alone anyway.

 

[SQLSister]

I find that references are one of the least effective ways of screening applicants. Yeah I'll use them to see if the guy outright lied about who his employers were but they are worthless for anything else. As noted, if you check with personal references, you already know the person is someone that is likely to tell you good things, so any good references can be discounted. Since most supervisors and HR departments are not allowed to provide more than neutral facts like dates of employment, then you cannot eliminate someone solely on the basis that someone else wasn't willing to risk getting fired for telling you what a good person they are. So supervisory references are useless. Also, back in the days when they would give references, we used to play a game called pass the trash, ie give someone a good reference to get rid of them. And just becasue someone has a bad reference doesn't mean they are bad, it might mean they worked for someone vindictive. And most places don't check refernces until after the interview because reference checking is time consuming, they only do it if there is a possibility the person will be hired, so it usually doesn't help to screen applicants for the interview.

 

[ecobb]

And just becasue someone has a bad reference doesn't mean they are bad, it might mean they worked for someone vindictive.
I actually hired someone because he got a bad reference from a previous employer. I was checking his references after the initial interview, and saw where one of them was a local web design/programming company that I had dealt with before. This particular company had a reputation for being sneaky, dirty, and underhanded. The owner/lead programmer would lie, cheat, and steal for a dollar, and no one could work with or trust him. Everything he designed was junk, he would intentionally build something that would break so you would have to pay him to come back and work on it. He also had a bad habit of always pointing his finger at someone else and never taking the blame for his screw ups. One time, he actually accused his competition of hacking into his customer's server and uninstalling all the Windows Service Packs because this customer got a virus on his server. The truth was, this guy had forgotten to Service Pack the server when he built it. Anyway...when I called for a reference, he had nothing but negative comments to say about my prospective employee. He talked about how this guy couldn't be trusted and how he had been "stealing" business from him, etc...

Since I already knew the previous employer, his negative reference told me everything I needed to know. I hired the guy. He has wound up being one of the best programmers I've worked with. Later on, I found out why his previous employer had been so negative. He had asked my employee to do something illegal, and when my employee refused, he was fired.

Now, of course, if I hadn't known the previous employer and his history, this situation would have most likely been the exact opposite. But, I thought I would share it with you anyway to reenforce SQLSister's point.



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

"Alright Brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you. But lets just do this, and I can get back to killing you with beer." - Homer Simpson

 

[chiph]

SQLSister:
Also, back in the days when they would give references, we used to play a game called pass the trash, ie give someone a good reference to get rid of them.

I've heard of this as "turfing them out".

Chip H.


If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

References here in Australia seem to be held in high regard. Most of the time when I'm asked for a reference from an agency they ask to talk to a specific type of person like "Can you give us a name and number of an end users that you've dealt with at..." I've been used as a reference by a few of my friends that I've also worked with. I give good references to good people. No one that is a bad worker has ever asked me for a reference perhaps because they know I tell the truth. It is a bonus to my friends me being a contractor as I'm often brought in at consultant/supervisory level. I've had 2 cases where friends have recieved their acceptance call within 15 minutes of getting off the phone with me. When getting references try to get someone that is fast on their feet and good at public speaking. I'm not talking about them lyeing. I'm talking about them being able to clearly draw on positive experiences with you. It's not good when a referee gets asked a question about you and they go "Umm...let me think....well....there was this time...."

Some other comments. Your CV is your foot in the door. If you get to the interview you've got a good chance in most cases. How you handle your CV is really dependent on your experience and your target job. I've lost a few positions because I have a standard CV that I send out. I don't personally fluff it up for a particular position but then most of my positions are gained from agencies and head hunters. If you are dealing directly with a organisation you need to make yourself marketible to that organisation. I'd say make your cover letter tailored to that organisations needs. The issue is you have to make yourself stand out as someone they want to talk to. Agian don't lye. If you get caught out you can forget it. Work on your strengths and how to phrase them.

That is another thing you should look into is agencies or headhunters. They are in the market of selling people and often can sell you better then you can.

Good Luck and Happy New Year