Jobs @ Career Consulting Limited

Return to career-consulting-limited.com
Managing
People
Managing Your Career
CV Examples
Coaching
Cover Letter Examples
Pre-Employment Tests


Making Sure You Get a Good Reference


You've had 3 interviews with a potential employer and they've asked you for references from your prior job. The problem is that you didn't leave on the best of terms and now you're a bit worried about the kind of reference they'll give. Follow these simple rules and you will be able to handle this without any problem.

The first thing to do is determine what kind of reference they will actually give. Ask a friend or relative to make believe they are a potential employer and call to get a reference on you. If you are especially concerned about the kind of reference you are getting, record the call if you can. Alternatively, you can find a lot of firms on the Internet that perform this service at a reasonable cost.

Ask the following questions.

1. What date did she work for you?
2. What was her title?
3. What was her compensation?
4. What would you say she does best?
5. What would you say she does worst?
6. Why did she leave?
7. Would you hire her again?

Many companies, for fear of being sued, will not confirm anything other than your title and dates of employment. On the other hand, if your old employer said terrible things about you, you need to shut them down.

Compose a letter stating that you have been told that the company has given a bad reference on you. State that you feel this is unjustified. Then state strongly that you are actively interviewing and if anything the company says about you in the future should cause you to lose a job offer, then you will seek legal counsel and compensation. Companies hate being sued so this should stop them immediately. Alternatively and especially if you have a low-cost legal service, have your attorney write the letter. Either way, the company will quickly learn to follow the rules and just confirm your employment.

Finally, depending on the reason you left the last firm, position your departure appropriately with your potential new boss. You do not want to go into detail about why you are getting a bad reference since that inevitably leads you say something negative. There are always 2 sides to any story and even though you may feel justified in your position, your potential employer may have second thoughts. Just set the stage for any reference checker to receive basic information about you. For example, state "I have to say I didn't leave on the best terms as we are still disputing sales commissions (bonuses) due me".

In any career, there are always some bumps in the road. These techniques will make sure they don't hurt your future endeavors.

Don Goodman is President of About Jobs (http://www.gotthejob.com) a Resume Writing and Job Search Assistance firm. Contact him at 800-909-0109 or by e-mail at success@gotthejob.com.


MORE RESOURCES:


Careers at FEMA  FEMA.gov

Jobs and careers | Veterans Affairs  VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs




Careers  University of Northern Colorado



Careers | Career Opportunities  West Virginia University


Careers  City of Phoenix (.gov)

Careers  City of Ontario, California (.gov)


Employment at WKU  Western Kentucky University


Careers at J&J  Johnson & Johnson Careers

Career Paths  FEMA.gov

Careers | Home  USDA (.gov)


Careers and Jobs at CRS  Catholic Relief Services

Employment Opportunities  Alabama Department of Public Health (.gov)

Careers  UC Santa Cruz

Work at Fairfield  Fairfield University

Careers - MDOT  Maryland.gov

Careers  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Working for ICE  ice.gov

Careers at USCIS  USCIS (.gov)

So, Why’d You Leave That Job?  The New York Times

Employment Opportunities | Game Commission  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov)

Careers  Johnson & Johnson

Store Hourly Job Areas  Target Corporation

Careers at TWU  Texas Woman's University

Work for Us (U.S. National Park Service)  National Park Service (.gov)

Work at Butler  Butler University


Explore Store Careers  Target Corporation

Domestic/Civil Service  careers.state.gov

Employment | Department of Corrections  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov)


Work With Us  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (.gov)


Careers at Simon & Schuster  SimonandSchuster.biz

Water Services Careers  City of Phoenix (.gov)

Career Opportunities  Gilead Sciences

Jobs  City of Rochester (.gov)


How to Apply  FEMA.gov

Careers at Willamette  Willamette University

Full-time jobs for students  Johnson & Johnson Careers

Careers  BASF

Jobs at Liberty University  Liberty University

Careers  Washington State University

Careers at the IOC  Olympics.com

Employment Services for PhD Mathematicians  American Mathematical Society




Careers and Employment  Willamette University

NASA Careers: Pathways  NASA (.gov)

Student internships at J&J  Johnson & Johnson Careers


Our Hiring Process  Target Corporation

Careers  The Ocean Cleanup






KPMG Careers  KPMG

UF Health Careers  UF Health Careers

Store Leadership Job Areas  Target Corporation





Careers  West Virginia Department of Education

Job search  KPMG


Careers at Union  Union College


The Gen X Career Meltdown  The New York Times



Work for the City of St. Louis  City of St. Louis, MO (.gov)

Current opportunities  Turner & Townsend

Interview Guide and Tips  Target Corporation

Job Opportunities  Bellevue School District




Job Seekers  Illinois Human Resources






Explore BCG locations around the world  Boston Consulting Group

Postdoctoral Research  Los Alamos National Laboratory (.gov)

Need More Information?
Site Home | Site Map | Links | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
© Career Consulting Limited.com 2011

tumblr visit counter