Search:

Custom Search

Readers' Comments

Total Comments: 7
Page 1 of 1

Reference Checking: An Art, Not a Science

Absolutely Correct

Senior HR Professional
Legislative Branch Agency
Wed Feb 7, 2007 8:36 AM

Post Reply

A selecting or hiring official who fails to do a reference check commits a fatal error in the selection process. This part of the process must not be neglected. The cost of making a bad selection is too high to omit the reference check.

Checking References

Public Health Analyst
CDC
Wed Feb 7, 2007 8:47 AM

Post Reply

There are various services offered on the internet that will find out on your behalf, exactly what your references and former supervisors are saying about you. If you have a concern that a former supervisor is trash talking your performance, while at the same time, giving you an outstanding or exceptional performance appraisal, then you need to know and you need to know as soon as possible. If you have a former supervisor providing information that does not accurately reflect your performance, there are several legal recourses you should consider and undertake to stop former supervisors from providing false information. Supervisors need to know that they can't lie and get away with it, without facing serious consequences.

Re: Checking References

Retiree
Retired
Fri Feb 9, 2007 2:00 PM
Years ago, I had heard supervisors say "give them a good reference - we want them to find a new job."

Substance Abuse

range technician
USDA Forest Service
Wed Feb 7, 2007 9:21 AM

Post Reply

I had a person age 19 working under my supervision a few years ago. This persons drinking (UNDER age) in Montana in Government Quarters (illegal) caused much aggravation and when he left I was very relieved. Last month someone called as this person had used me as a reference. I explained that the person he was considering was a hard working effecient person. The job the reference checking person was trying to fill.. involved camping and working in remote areas with a few others. I decided to tell the prospecitve employer a little about the problems we had had and that the applicant may have overcome the problems by now. Afterward I was sorry I mentioned the alcohol abuse but the person was a heavy drinker at 19. Who knows how things were going by age 22. I still don't know if I did the right thing.

Re: Substance Abuse

Retiree
Retired
Wed Feb 7, 2007 12:00 PM
As long as you were honest without embellishing or personalizing, you did the right thing. You would want to be told if the situation were reversed so you could address the issue. It should be up to the employee to show that he/she has turned their life around, gotten counseling, in a program, etc. Alcoholism is a disease like any other and as long as they seek treatment, the new employer should give them a chance. But you cannot control that. 've had similar co-workers myself and they have turned that around and doing great and are professionally successful. Sometimes it's just a matter of maturity and growth.

Re: Substance Abuse

Former HR Specialist
Federal Agency
Thu Feb 8, 2007 10:46 AM
I have found that Alcoholics in recovery, working an active 12-step program, are among the best workers. They know that if they are not rigorouly honest in all matters, they run the risk of losing their sobriety and returning to the HELL of active alcoholism. They also use hard work on their current job as way to make a "living amends" for the damage they did on the jobs they had while they were drinking.

Re: Substance Abuse

Research Psychologist
MSPB
Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:50 PM
I think you did the right thing by helping the reference checker to make a decision with as much information available as possible.

A few years ago I worked in a small consulting firm. A colleague was going through a divorce and his whole life came apart for a while. Drinking, unreliability, poor performance, sexual harassment of female coworkers, etc. We tried to help him out of it, because he had been a good employee and a good friend. But he kept spiralling down. He was finally let go.

A year later I was contacted because he had listed me as a reference. I'll admit that I was tempted to be selective and report only the positive. I'm glad I did it straight.

I gave the caller an overview of the problems, then explained that in my best judgment his problems were situational, not dispositional. I said I would gladly work with him now that he had turned things around. The caller said they would likely offer him the job--and would not have found me credible if I had whitewashed.
Total Comments: 7
Page 1 of 1

Add a Comment about this Article

** All fields are required.
Note: Your comments will not show up right away. FedSmith.com selects the most insightful comments from our readers for posting. If selected, your comments will show up in the comments section after they have been reviewed and approved. See our terms of use for more information.