Bad Reference

mama79

Hi All

Really hoping someone can give some advice on this. Husband has applied for a job and has done 2 interviews for it. Both of them went pretty well and he's been told if he gets the job it'll be subject to references. He's been unemployed for over a year so could do with a break. Anyways he applied for another job about a month ago, was interviewed and told again job offer subject to references. So he put down the last place he worked in as a referee. They'd let him go at the time due to a downturn in contracts. He rang his old boss to see if it was ok to put him down as a referree the guy was all "oh no problem at all happy to do it". Anyways he gets a phone call from the agency afterwards saying that he was unsuccessful due to an unfavourable reference from his last employer. Basically the person in the agency said that his old boss wouldn't rehire him and that there were other issues that the agency person wasn't willing to discuss with my husband.

So now fast forward to this new job that he's done 2 interviews for. He hasn't given any referee details as of yet but he's concerned that this new prospective employer will look for details of his last job.

Any idea on how he should handle this? Sorry for the long post...

thanks

edellc

I have in the past gotten a friend/family member to pretend to be the work reference as like you husband I was let go no bad feeling as far as i knew but they gave me a not so shining reference which I was shocked and disappointed at as I was always on time, worked late, always hit deadlines and had good banter with all.

In view of him being out of work for so long and wanting and willing to work a little white lie I dont think will hurt after all how many people say they have experience in this that and the other on their cv when its actually bending of the true :rolleyes: so why not get a friend to pretend to be the manager in his previous job, you give a mobile number as the manager in question also no longer works in the employment due to the down turn of the economy but this is just a need to know basis you dont have to tell new employer just the agency

best of luck to you husband

Eoin

That's a bit more than bending the truth in fairness.

mama79, is there anyone else in the previous company that could act as a referee?

mama79

Hi All

Thanks for the replies. Edellec to be honest the thought had crossed our mind and we're tempted to do it. While my husband was in the last job, he had no issues, no disciplinary stuff no nothing so don't really understand where this is coming from. The day he was let go he was told that the work had dried up but as soon as it picked up again he'd be called.

Eoin I know it is bending the truth but at this point we're wondering can beggars be choosers? There isn't anyone else in the company as there was just the owner and the 6 operatives (husband included) that worked there so we're kind of stuck. As it is the bridges have been burned with the agency as they now view him as unreliable and so are unwilling to put him forward for anything.

Thanks again.

InReality

I'd get a friend to give a reference. If he has done a good interview , and a reference is all thats needed , I don't see it being a huge issue. I've done it for a friend of mine in the past.

Obv its a personal moral issue.

Personally I think the fear of a bad reference is far to strong in ireland and is often mentioned on these boards.
It gives managers too much power over people.

Danbo!

I'd get someone to ring the old boss asking for a reference for him to see exactly what he is saying and how accurate it is.

LegacyUser

I know how your husband feels re last employer and bad reference.
I watched a friend of mine work hard in one company to be informed that her contract would not be extended due to a load of poor excuses. Her boss also informed her that if she was contacted for a reference she would tell other employers this.

I would also get some one your know to ring your husbands ex boss for a reference to see exactly what is been said about him.

She used another person in the company for her reference. If your husband does this he needs to use someone who keeps quite about this.

If you can't do this I would get a friend to give him a reference. Why should your husband not have a job due to a boss on power trip. I believe that if you do something like this to an ex employee who was a good worker no good luck will come to you.
Hope your husband gets a new job soon.

mama79

Hi All

Thanks for all your replies. Just to give you a quick update: I rang the old boss myself (pretending to be from an agency) with a list of questions that I found on some HR sites. When it came to the question of "would you rehire?" the guy said No. When I asked if he cared to elaborate on that he said "Oh that's a very sticky question for me to answer...no no its too difficult and I could end up in a bit of bother". So I thanked him for his time and ended the call.

Went home and told my husband what had happened and so he dropped into their office for a chat (not in a Tony Soprano kind of way he just wanted to find out what the story was). He told his ex boss what he knew and basically the guy said "Ah I didn't mean it like that. Its just that after hiring you we felt you were over qualified for the job and that's why we let you go". BTW this was not the reason they gave my husband when they were letting him go. When my husband explained that saying No to the "would you rehire" question is basically the kiss of death for any prospective employee he said "ah I didn't realise that".
The ex-bosses wife (who worked in the office) was also there and she said to leave the references to her in future.

So it was probably a bit of a gamble but husband put them down as a referee. The gamble appears to have paid off as he started a job with a large multinational this week. Still don't know if the ex boss genuinely had a grudge or was just a bit clueless but his wife looked after it anyways. The relief is something else considering baby number 2 is on the way!

Thanks again for all your replies

LegacyUser

Glad to hear some good news.
Tell your husband good luck with the new job and wishing you all the best with number 2

Tieko

Fair play, it takes big guts to confront an old employer like that. I think too many of them think they have the upper hand but when confronted with a legal situation, they start to realise the implications of their actions.

It is really disgusting that someone can really make or break your career for the sake of their own power trip

castie

Im pretty sure you can apply through the freedom of information act to the agency if you were still wondering what was said to the agency.

They would have it on his file.

amdublin

Fair play.

Good luck with baby no 2!

doolox

References, as mentioned before in this thread, give far too much power to the boss in an employer/employee relationship. As mentioned before if it is a choice between "tweaking" the truth in such situations by getting a friend or fellow worker to field the reference requirements of a hiring process and forgoing earnings in these hard times I'd go for the tweak.

The whole concept of references puts too much power in the hands of employers and turns erstwhile free workers into serfs.

Often workers in adverse work situations have no choice but to abandon bad jobs without references and take a lower job in order to "recover" their work situation and put a distance between themselves and the bad employer or work superior. The loss of earnings and experience opportunities is often considerable and there is often nothing that can be done about, especially in small organisations or niche lines of work with small numbers of companies where everyone knows everyone else and choices are limited.