has anyone here ever lost a job opportunity due to a bad job reference?

its happening to one of my closest friends....

That's a drag.

Suggestions from recent interviews...

1. Make sure the information like phone numbers is kept up to date.

2. Go one step further and have references for specific targeted companies.

3. Make sure references are up to date and they're still interested in backing you up.

Sorry to hear about that Jedi, jobs are hard to find and a slipup like that can be costly.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joe_karp,

AFAIK, the only question your reference can answer is "was the termination willful or not?". They CANNOT badmouth you, by law. So, if you were fired from a job it's probably not a good idea to put a manager from that company down as your reference.

quote:

Originally posted by joe_karp:
That's a drag.

Suggestions from recent interviews...

1. Make sure the information like phone numbers is kept up to date.

2. Go one step further and have references for specific targeted companies.

3. Make sure references are up to date and they're still interested in backing you up.

Sorry to hear about that Jedi, jobs are hard to find and a slipup like that can be costly.

hey it wasn't me LOL i swear....i'm in grad school

my best friend is getting screwed.....so he might see a lawyer.....kinda like what RX was saying

Yeah I know...I didn't say it was y'all Jedi. I hope it works out for your friend in the end.

but yeah job references can ruin your life potentially

When it comes to references. Most unless they are stupid will not bad mouth a former employee. There have been many lawsuits over that, which has caused people to be pretty tight lipped.

There was an email going around a few years back that was really funny. I wish I could find it. It was comments that former employers made to give a negative reference, but couched it as a positive reference. Anyone seen these? I did a quick search with no results, but I would love to see some of these again.

A "smart" recruiter or HR manager will ask the question...

"Would YOU hire them again?"

As that is a question about the person on the phone and NOT about the applicant in question, there is no liablity in answering it.

Good point, Mark. Plus, from the previous employer's perspective, he is lots better off not having to put a negative comment down in writing.

What I think we are talking about here is the difference between "slander"-saying a malicious untruth about someone, and "libel"- writing a malicious untruth about someone. Historically, libel is easier to prove because the injured party has the written document. Remember though...if the statement is "true", whether written or spoken, it is not slander or libel. The bottom line for the previous employer is that even if the malicious statement is true, he doesn't want to get into a position of having to prove its true. Writing a malicious statement will open him up to litigation, and even if he wins, he will suffer financial losses in the process.