Imagine the frustration, then, to having sailed through the pre-screening process with flying colors...having “nailed” your interviews...perhaps being assured that an offer would be forthcoming in very short order...only to never hear from that prospective employer again. Equally frustrating, the unspoken question - “What went wrong?” Sadly, the often-overlooked “last phase” of the hiring process - checking the applicant’s references - has undone many a candidate. “A sizable number of the references we check are for job candidates who already suspect negative feedback from former employers,” says Jeff Shane, Vice President of Allison & Taylor Reference Checking , a firm that offers professional reference checking services. “We find that the most likely offenders offering negative references are former supervisors,” says Shane. “Perhaps a position of authority makes them feel that the company reference policies don’t really apply to them - or that there is no way that their employer will ever become aware that they have given negative feedback that is contrary to company policy. Human Resources can be problematic as well - while they are less likely than supervisors to offer extensive commentary, a simple “not eligible for rehire” statement can effectively kill an applicant’s prospects for future employment.” The surest way to ensure that your references are responding appropriately to employment inquiries is to conduct a reference check(s). If a reference check confirms negative or inappropriate feedback, you will have recourse to prevent that person from further damaging your career. Allison & Taylor Reference Checking offers one such recourse. If a former employer is speaking inappropriately when responding to an employment inquiry, employees can exercise the option of a Cease & Desist letter (they may also be able to pursue more substantive legal action). A Cease & Desist letter will help ensure that the transgressor will stop their actions out of fear of corporate reprisal. In offering this service, Allison & Taylor Reference Checking works with attorneys well-versed in employment law who will review the client’s report from a negative reference , speak directly with them to discuss protocol and options, and then issue the letter to the organization where the negative commentary arose. As part of the overall fee, Allison & Taylor Reference Checking then re-conducts the original reference check to determine if the negative reference is continuing to offer harmful commentary. This rarely turns out to be the case - the documented “success rate” of this letter is extremely high. CHAPTER 44 Bad Economy - Or Bad References? Be Sure a Key Job Reference Isn’t Your “Weakest Link” Picture this scenario: You’ve just “nailed” that second interview and your prospective employer appeared enthusiastic about you. They may even have suggested that you were the leading candidate, or that the job was practically yours. You left the interview with high hopes, waiting for that formal job offer you’d hoped (or expected) within the next few days. But then...no word. You politely followed up, and were told that the company had “decided to go in a different direction,” with a different candidate. Your prospects had looked so good with this opportunity - was it simply a case of a better candidate in an already challenging economy? Or could it have been something else? Variations on this unfortunate theme are heard from clients almost daily at Allison & Taylor Reference Checking , a reference checking organization of 30 years. Aside from the understandable disappointment and frustration of losing out on a seemingly strong job prospect, clients are also burdened with the uncertainty of why they did not ultimately get the job. For their own legal protection, prospective employers will virtually never reveal to a candidate that they were not selected as the result of one of their references, or their background check. Instead, employers simply allude to other candidates with stronger credentials, or a change in corporate direction, or - more likely - simply never respond back to the candidate with any kind of input. The candidate is left wondering whether there was more to the rejection than met the eye - without knowing for certain if this was indeed the case.
Resumes Win Interviews References Win Job Offers
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