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Employment referencesFollow

#1 Jul 23 2004 at 4:49 PM Rating: Good
Ministry of Silly Cnuts
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Here's one for anyone who ever gets asked to give an employment reference for employees or former employees.

I have this principle about being honest, so when total morons/lazy bums/losers ask me "Can I quote you as a referee" I always reply "Yes, but you wouldn't get the job"

Of course for good peeps I praise 'em where it's due.

But I'm tired of seeing blatantly false or flattering references. There's a category I call "Yep. . . he was boning her" (She was a flawless employee whose loyalty was matched only by her talent and commitment yaddy yaady yaady)

So. . . any of you ever give glowing references to help shed some dead-weight?

Anyone had a really crap reference?

PS. My favourite was when I received a reference for a Systems Engineer which said "David is difficult to ignore, but it is worth making the effort" Smiley: grin
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"I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left" - Seasick Steve
#2 Jul 23 2004 at 4:53 PM Rating: Good
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I think, legaly all you are allowed to say is "Yup, he worked here" and "Nope, I would rather break every bone in my hand and then be forced to jack off with it than hire him back." But I may be mistaken.
#3 Jul 23 2004 at 5:02 PM Rating: Good
Ministry of Silly Cnuts
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19,524 posts
That's interesting.

Here in UK it's acceptable to request/send written or even verbal references, but I recently recruited a guy whose employer was a US company and they took that line.

I understand their reluctance to say anything judgmental, but what pissed me off was they refused even to confirm his salary, even though he had written giving them permission to tell me. (I was offering 5K less than his declared salary and my organisation needed confirmation before they'd agree to raise the salary to match it).

Possibly just the difference between USA where people are more inclined to sue over any apparent injustice, whereas in UK people seem more reluctant to involve the courts.
____________________________
"I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left" - Seasick Steve
#4 Jul 23 2004 at 5:03 PM Rating: Decent
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Quote:
"David is difficult to ignore, but it is worth making the effort"


HAHAHHAA! Dear god that is funny.

I doubt that is true Gitslayer, what are they going to sue for slander? "Judge I gave the person interviewing this list of people to call and they did not lie for me, make them give me money"

I find it funny is the amount of people who ask if they can put you down as a refrence but don't ask or even think about what you will say. I once had a complete stranger ask me for a refrence before (I had seem him in the halls and I guess we had exchanged a friendly nod everyone once in a while) but as far as knowing who the **** he was I had to idea, I gave him my contact information but I have not heard from anyone yet. I kind of look forward to that call "John Smith, never heard of him, wait describe him for me"
#5 Jul 23 2004 at 5:10 PM Rating: Decent
Quote:
I doubt that is true Gitslayer, what are they going to sue for slander? "Judge I gave the person interviewing this list of people to call and they did not lie for me, make them give me money"


That is exactly what happens. They get sued and the person almost always wins.

It's like your mom always tells me, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".
#6 Jul 23 2004 at 6:23 PM Rating: Good
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It's true all you are allowed to say is if he worked there or not and if you would hire him back. That's it. Prospective employeers will ask other questions and you could always say more but you are asking for it if they tell your past employee:

"Sorry, we can't hire you. Mr.GitSlayer told us about the axel grease and bathroom incident. You really should learn to lock the bathroom door ya know."
#7 Jul 24 2004 at 12:02 PM Rating: Good
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16,160 posts
Why would they want to quote you as a referee? "Illegal motion in the backfield!" "Can I quote you on that?"

/scratches his head

Totem
#8 Jul 24 2004 at 3:26 PM Rating: Decent
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2,453 posts
Quote:
I think, legaly all you are allowed to say is "Yup, he worked here" and "Nope, I would rather break every bone in my hand and then be forced to jack off with it than hire him back." But I may be mistaken.


As far as I know it is legal to give any sort of reference you like. The problem comes in when some does not get a job because you gave a less than glowing reference. Because of the potential for lawsuits, most companies these days will only confirm employment rather than provide a reference.

#9 Jul 25 2004 at 1:20 AM Rating: Decent
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5,311 posts
Quote:
I think, legaly all you are allowed to say is "Yup, he worked here" and "Nope, I would rather break every bone in my hand and then be forced to jack off with it than hire him back." But I may be mistaken
You are mistaken. All you can do is confirm their employment, the dates of the employment and, if the prospective employer asks you to confirm their salary you can say "yes, that's correct" or "no, that is not correct", but you can't tell them the correct figure. If you want to give them a positive reference you can, but you can say nothing that could be construed as negative, like "no, I wouldn't rehire them."

At least, this was the case a few years ago. As far as I know the laws haven't changed. Then again I'm not in a position to be hiring people these days so I haven't followed them closely.
#10 Jul 26 2004 at 12:57 PM Rating: Decent
Quote:
There's a category I call "Yep. . . he was boning her" (She was a flawless employee whose loyalty was matched only by her talent and commitment yaddy yaady yaady)


yeah because it could never be a man in this position, women are just objects for sex, you sick sick person (i'm surprised you didn't spot that one yanari)

and BTW mrens, you sig, its site, not sight, unless you mean its the best thing to look at on the net.
#11 Jul 27 2004 at 2:24 AM Rating: Decent
Catbert: I'm afraid I can't give out references. But if I could, it would rhyme with mazy loron.
#12 Jul 27 2004 at 2:36 AM Rating: Decent
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195 posts
apologies if this ends up multiple post. do not know what is happening at the moment.


it is now law in the U.K that you can ask for and have to be shown what your refs., said.
#13 Jul 27 2004 at 8:35 AM Rating: Good
Here's what I have used several times, quite successfully. That's the part that makes it so sadly funny. People take and use these letters...and get jobs.

http://www.bcow.com/letter_of_recommendation/

#14 Jul 27 2004 at 8:39 AM Rating: Decent
lol, great form TS, is it connected in any way to emotion eric apart from the pic at the top?
#15 Jul 27 2004 at 9:01 AM Rating: Good
No idea. I just happened to stumble across the site while looking for inspiration for a letter of referee for one of our great former all-stars.

He managed to run over his own foot with a piece of equipment that requires you to have weight on the operator platform before it will move. How? He actually brought one of the weights from his weight set at home and snuck it in because he knew we wouldn't want him to use his own weight. He didn't understand why we didn't just buy weights for all of the equipment with those tricksy platforms. After all, the machine won't move if you don't have weight on that platform.....

Why yes, it DOES rhyme with 'mazy loron.'
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