Career Couch: The Groundwork for Good References

A. Ideally, you are continually cultivating references by doing good work, seeking out mentors and developing strong relationships with peers and supervisors. When you are ready to move on to a new job, ask those people if you can list them as references. “Job seekers should never list someone as a reference without having talked to that person about it first,” says Tom Gimbel, C.E.O. of the LaSalle Network, a staffing and recruitment firm in Chicago.

Let your references know about the positions for which you’re being considered and what they will most likely be asked, says Jennifer Takacs-O’Shea, president of Caterpillar Career Consultants in Calverton, N.Y.

And if you are leaving under less-than-desirable circumstances, be honest about that when you talk to your manager. “Have the humility to acknowledge you weren’t that good at the job,” Mr. Gimbel says. Commit to working on your weaknesses in the future. Then talk about strengths you had — like being a team player, having a good attitude, meeting deadlines — and ask if your manager could stress those characteristics in a reference check.

Q. What if you discover that a former employer is giving you an undeserved negative reference?

A. Although many companies have a policy of limiting reference information to confirming employment dates and job titles, to protect against possible litigation, some people still give negative feedback, says Jeff Shane, executive vice president at Allison Taylor, a firm in Rochester, Mich., that conducts reference checks for corporations and job seekers.

Employees who feel that their character is being defamed could sue the employer to stop it, says Susan K. Lessack, a partner in the labor and employment practice of the law firm Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia. But that should be a last resort. Being known for suing a former employer isn’t likely to help your job search, and defamation is hard to prove, she says. “I don’t think there’s much upside,” she says.

One possible path is to contact the person you believe is giving the negative reference and discuss the situation, Mr. Shane says. Try to reach agreement about what the person will say in the future so it’s not perceived as negative.

You can also contact the human resources office, as it is usually more objective than a former supervisor, Ms. Lessack says. “Ask for some assistance or agree that the company will provide only neutral information,” she says. “You might try to get a written reference that mentions a few positive things and stays away from the negative.”

If you still can’t be sure if your reference will end up being mainly negative, address the possibility during your job interview. Mr. Gimbel says to provide the name of your supervisor, along with your view of the situation, noting the quality of your work wasn’t the issue.

Q. If you were a highly valued employee but your company will only confirm dates of employment and position, how can you get a good reference?

A. Companies may have a policy of giving out only neutral information because one manager may think an employee was great but another may not, Ms. Lessack says. “Companies want to speak with one voice and be consistent,” she says.

Ms. Takacs-O’Shea suggests checking with human resources to see whether your manager can speak personally — rather than professionally — on your behalf: “He can talk about things like your character, enthusiasm, willingness to contribute and that the projects you worked on had a high success rate.”

Ms. Lessack agrees. Depending on the company, she says, you may be able to work out something that allows your manager to speak about you in a way that doesn’t violate the company’s policy on professional references.

Q. Do recommendations on LinkedIn mean anything to employers?

A. It depends on the employer, but many look at them, even if they have less force than usual references, says Bill Peppler, managing partner of the staffing firm Kavaliro in Orlando, Fla. “One of the first things I do when I’m looking to hire for our corporate office is pull that person up on LinkedIn,” he says.

Although LinkedIn’s endorsements feature — a way to recommend those in a network for certain skills — is relatively new, Mr. Peppler has used it to find the most endorsed person with a specific background in a particular city. “It’s hard to know how meaningful that will be in the long run, but to me, it makes them one of the most influential people in that region for what they do,” he says.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/jobs/the-groundwork-for-good-references.html?partner=rss&emc=rss