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[pnjtony]

So I recently applied for an IT Assistant position at our library and I put down my references as usual. Normally I never wonder about them when applying for a job cause I never hear anything about them afterwards wether I got the job or not. Well today I did hear about them because They had missplaced them and called me asking for them. I got them up there and then today I got a call from two of the people saying how they got a call from the library and they gave me glowing reviews yadda yadda and it got me thinking.

What's the point?

Obviously you're not going to put someone on a references list that's going to give you a neutral or crappy reference. The person calling these people obviously know tis as well so what's the purpose of it?

I know soe people here are in management positions so spill the beans people.

 

[Memles]

My 'boss' this summer has received resumes where people have placed references and then the reference tried to convince him NOT to hire the kid.

So, yeah. Some people get desperate and stupid and throw on old employers with a less than stellar opinion.

 

[maynerd]

The thing is if you are too dumb or don't have anyone that can lie for you makes you undesireable. If you have a quick wit allowing you to lie well and you know people in the right places, well then you are desireable.

 

[Deku]

People put references down thinking employers don't check. They may get lucky and they really don't. But most major employers, even low wage jobs like Wal-Mart do check their employees.

Shrinkage is a major issue for most retail jobs, and companies want to know who they are hiring. For service companies, the stakes are even higher.

 

[Phoenix]

Reference checking is common and crucial in a variety of jobs (particularly government jobs), but I myself have never called references because I assume you'll have good people there. Its like reference letters for grad/law school - never talked to an admissions person who said that made ANY difference at all unless they were from like the president of the university or country.

 

[gblues]

Reference checking is common and crucial in a variety of jobs (particularly government jobs), but I myself have never called references because I assume you'll have good people there. Its like reference letters for grad/law school - never talked to an admissions person who said that made ANY difference at all unless they were from like the president of the university or country.

Although the way the judicial nominations are going, a reference from the President of the United States might be more of a liability than a credit. :lol

Nathan

 

[ChrisReid]

What's the point?

Obviously you're not going to put someone on a references list that's going to give you a neutral or crappy reference. The person calling these people obviously know tis as well so what's the purpose of it?

Well, ideally you're only putting employment references, not your friends. Candidates might think they have a great relationship with their former boss, but many supervisors can and will slip out information that might make the determination between one candidate and another. Secondarily, these employment references are also used to verify previous pay rate and length of employment to make sure you didn't lie on your application in order to try to leverage more pay.

 

[teruterubozu]

A lot of companies are starting to discourage references. The company I used to work for told everyone NOT to comment on former employees, since there are just too many legal implications if someone loses out on a job because of a "bad" reference. Many companies are being advised by their lawyers to politely refuse to comment and say it is not their policy to give references.

 

[Phoenix]

A lot of companies are starting to discourage references. The company I used to work for told everyone NOT to comment on former employees, since there are just too many legal implications if someone loses out on a job because of a "bad" reference. Many companies are being advised by their lawyers to politely refuse to comment and say it is not their policy to give references.

Yep. I know TimeWarner's policy is to do nothing more than confirm your employment and dates and such. They won't give any particular comments about employees because many companies (and probably TW) have been sued over references. It never matters to me because by the time I'm finished grilling you I have a good feel for your capabilities and thus far I've had a good track record for feeling out 'the lazy' by getting a feel for how much they know about the projects they worked on and the industry in general.