What to Do About a Bad Reference

Anyone out there had a boss who would give you a less than stellar reference? If so, US News has some suggestions on how to handle the situation as follows:

Call your old boss and ask if she'd be willing to reach an agreement with you on what she'll say to future reference calls. It's at least worth a shot—the worst that can happen is that she'll say no.

If you think the reference your boss is providing is factually inaccurate, skip her and go straight to your old company's HR department. Explain that your boss is giving an inaccurate reference for you and that you are concerned she is standing in the way of you obtaining employment.

If all else fails, you may need to simply warn prospective new employers that the reference won't be a good one. And you do want to give this warning, because it allows you to provide context and framing for what they might be about to hear.

You can also offer up former coworkers, clients, and others who can speak to your work, and even old copies of performance reviews if you have them. Sometimes the mere offer of these things will provide the reassurance employers are looking for.

I've never had a boss who wouldn't at least give me a fair recommendation, but I also don't usually give a bosses name as a reference. I pick peers more than any other group -- people I worked with closely who know my abilities and will give a good review of them. A few more thoughts:

1. I ALWAYS ask them for a reference before putting them down as one. It's a common courtesy and let's them know that they may be called.

2. I ask them if the can give me a GOOD review. Based on who I'm asking, most will commit to this. If someone didn't, I wouldn't list them as a reference.

3. In addition to co-workers, I also use others I've worked with closely such as the President of an agency we use.

How about you? Do you have any reference tips?

Comments

[Mr. ToughMoneyLove]

My reference tip is to be pro-active about potentially needing references. This starts with being careful not to burn any bridges with anyone at your former workplace. Too many people use those last few days as opportunities to vent about negative experiences. These rants have a way of working back to people that you might need as a reference. Instead, keep your mouth shut except to say what a wonderful experience it was to work there.

[Mark]

Agree 100% with TougyMoneyLove. Also, if you work in a business-to-business or even business-to-consumer type environment, I would reccomend using clients/customers as references. If you do a good job and have a good rapport with them they will gladly speak highly of you.

[Greg]

Was it termination, or did they ask for your resignation?

Why would the reference be less than stellar? Can you phrase it in a proactive way? Show how you took action and initiative?

If you word it well (and it is true), you can communicate that your former boss or company was lacking, while not criticizing them (never criticize a former boss or employer).

For example: "I left Company X because our values were different. One value area we disagreed on was that all employees have the moral obligation to work at Company X until they retire."

If you were, in fact, negligent and deserve the lousy reference, explain what you learned and how you have taken steps to make sure it never happens again.

The second point brought up in the article is the best way to go. You can never control what an old boss will say. HR departments will be very risk averse and will tell the old Boss to clam up. Violating a directive by HR would get the boss in trouble.

Let HR know that you will seek legal assistance in the event that the boss does this again and you will see your problems will disappear very quickly.

[Kim]

As a former HR professional and current executive recruiter, I think some of these comments are naive. If a candidate gave me a list of references that only included peers, I would push it back and ask for names of people he or she reported to. I can understand not calling current bosses, but anybody else is fair game.

Let me set everyone straight on a couple of things: My clients, and I, talk to people you have not listed on your references sheet. "Who else would you suggest I talk to regarding Bob's work history?," is a question asked every day of a reference. If you list three people, I will personally talk to six. Keep your noses clean. Never lie or embellish on your resume. It's a small world. Everybody knows somebody. HR may not be able to give full disclosure because of legal issues, but trust me, everybody else LOVES to talk. And the more senior-level the position, the longer the conversation.

Also, credit and criminal background checks are becoming more and more common for any type of position. You will know if a potential employer does these checks as you will have to give them permission to do so. However, if you decline, they will move onto the next candidate. If you have a FICO score lower than 650, they likely will move onto the next candidate. If you have a bench warrant for unpaid parking tickets, they won't even return your calls. It happens. It happens every day.

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Early in my career I had the misfortune of finding out that my mentor gave me a bad reference - this is after he had agreed to be one. The hiring manager listened carefully to his rant and hired me anyway, then clued me in about what happened. It seems that my so-called mentor was upset that I'd taken my career in a different direction than he thought it should go but he never bothered to inform me of his feelings on the matter. The hiring manager said that the rant sold him on my ability to work for difficult people in challenging environments. I hadn't given my immediate supervisor from the same company as a reference because he screamed at me for 2 hours when I gave notice. He took it as a personal insult that I was leaving the company - it didn't matter to him that the company was laying people off in droves. Ironically, they were both out of work shortly thereafter when the whole thing folded.

At another company, an employee thought his immediate manager was giving him a bad reference when he tried to do an internal job change. It wasn't - it was the manager he'd had prior to the current one. The previous manager had given him a glowing reference in order to get him out of his department. Once the employee was no longer his problem, he had no reluctance to tell it like it really was. We ended up terminating the employee but the documentation required to do so, and the length of time it took, was mind-blowing.

[Doug]

I seem to remember, either from college or from reading, that if you ask an employer if you they will provide a positive reference, they are legally obligated to do so. They can not say they will give a good reference and then not do so. Any one that deals with this daily know for sure?

[Julie O'Malley, CPRW]

I usually recommend that you provide a current resume to anyone you are asking to be a reference, and give them a heads up when you've had an interview for a specific job. That way, you can drop hints about particular skills or accomplishments you'd like them to emphasize, or refresh their memory about successful projects and so on.

[James Klich]

I have been given bad reference by an old emplyer. It has kept me out of work for almost 3 years. Now, I am underemployed. I am not sure what to do?