What do your referees say about you?

It’s interesting the things you hear about other people. I heard a story about someone who had applied for an interstate job. It seemed that although their work had been done okay and no one had any complaints about the quality of their work, this individual was unpleasant. She was just generally not liked by anyone; not by management nor staff. Everyone wanted rid of her. She got a glowing reference from every referee. They were all glad to see the back of her, and giving her a great wrap was a good way to guarantee she’d go.

I went for an interview for a job I was particularly keen to get. Everything went well at the interview; the interview panel gave me the impression that they’d be good to work with. They had beautiful offices on about the 30th floor of a building with fabulous views, and I think I addressed all the questions well. I left the place happy that I’d done okay. The interview went so well I was more than half expecting a phone call the next day to offer me the job.

I had a very enlightening conversation with one of the interview panel members who rang to say they weren’t going to offer me the job because of a comment by one of my referees. He didn’t go into detail, but recommended I reconsider using him.

To say this was disappointing was an understatement. I was beginning to dislike my current job situation, and this only made things worse. I felt as though I was stabbed in the back, and trapped in the place. Keeping me there may have been the intention. Fortunately, this individual was good enough to tell me who made the unenthusiastic remarks about me. This person was the assistant to the CEO; my manager’s boss. I very quickly arranged an alternative referee.

I explained my recent experience to my new referee. I sought an honest opinion from them. I was trying to assess what they may or may not say on my behalf. I was assured that they would give me a good comment, but being the doubtful Thomas I am, I laboured the point. I explained that unless referees are willing to boast of the individual they are speaking for, to go over the top, to describe them as though they are on a pedestal then there is no point in saying anything. This may have been taxing our friendship, for this was a work colleague rather than a supervisor. Unless you are sure of your referees, don’t use them.

He only had to take one telephone call. He did as promised, and I got the very next job I applied for, and I stayed there for about five years. I keep wondering where I would be today if I had got any of those other jobs I wanted badly, but was knocked out of the race because of a crumby and unfair reference.

If you are feeling game, get someone to ring your referees as though they were an employer and you had applied for a job with them, and have them report back to you with their opinion as to how much regard your referees have for you. A word of warning: if you are going to do this, make sure you do some preparation should your referees want some documentation about this fictitious job.

Monash University

I applied for a job with Monash University, and I've never experienced an interview where I was treated so poorly as I was with them. In hindsight I can only assume the position was earmarked for someone in particular, and they were just going through the motions of advertising and conducting interviews with no intention of offering the job to any of the other applicants.

The position description identified Gerard Toohey (Manager, Student Administration) as Unit Head, and Peter Yates (Director, Services & Systems) as Divisional Director.

Gerard Toohey seemed to be the chair but his heart wasn't in the process. He looked bored throughout. It wasn't so much his posture of leaning on the table while resting his head on his hand that disturbed me, though it set a poor impression of the organisation. It was the fact that during the progress of the interview the meeting was interrupted by someone entering the room. This messenger whispered something to Toohey resulting in him leaving the room part way through the interview. It's difficult to assess a candidate’s performance at an interview if you excuse yourself from the process. The most interesting thing about this experience was that I received a rejection letter the day after the interview.

It doesn't take long to prepare a letter, but it does take some hours to get it through an organisation’s internal mail system, and you have to be very lucky for Australia Post to get a standard letter delivered by the next day unless it's sent by a priority paid service. It takes a while to reach the letter writing stage. Normally the interview panel would meet to decide on a candidate, and while this could be done quickly forwarding a recommendation to the HR section does take time. HR would want the successful candidate to accept the position which is usually done in writing, before doing anything else. Only after this has been completed will the other candidates be advised. There is only one conclusion I can deduce: my letter of rejection was in the post while I was being interviewed.

I have no qualms in identifying Gerard Toohey and describing his shoddy behaviour in the hope that my experience might serve as a warning to other job seekers.


Postscript:
Refer comment posted by Anonymous:

Dear Anonymous,

You wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap and couldn’t possibly have any idea of my background in HR or otherwise. Please don’t make unsubstantiated statements. You seem very sensitive to this item. Could it be that your name is Gerard Toohey. Though, I can confirm I’ve been involved in hiring enough people in my time to know the limitations of the process. Not from the HR side I might add, but from the business side of things. That’s what counts. I know how the process is conducted and how long it takes. Despite your rage I stand by my comments, and yes the interview was indeed rubbish. It was one of the more unprofessional experiences I have encountered. If the cap fits Gerard wear it. And yes, I felt extremely sour after the experience; you have no idea.

Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment agencies may help some people get work. In my experience they were pretty much a dead loss, and seldom helped. The frustrating thing about getting a job nowadays is that you often have to go through agencies, because their clients, the employers, get the agencies to do the initial filtering. So you’re stuck with them. I found most of the agencies I came into contact with seemed to spend a large amount of energy in fluff and bubble, and provided little genuine service. I don’t think employers are getting value for money, and I’m certain job seekers are getting stuffed around into the bargain.

The agencies that had the jobs that interested me tended to be located in the upmarket side of town in some high-rise building. This was ironic because I thought better service came from agencies at the other end of town. My first experience of them was eye opening. In subsequent visits I found the antics of the staff amusing, and then it became annoying.

Some of the buildings where these agencies are located, with their marble floors and walls, seem so flushed with money that they were almost intimidating. You get out the lift on the 40th something floor, and enter their smart office with plush carpets and mahogany wall panelling and desks. You approach the reception desk to announce yourself to the impeccably dressed and good-looking young female receptionist. Men are seldom seen at the reception desk of these places. She directs you to a seat and calls the person you’re there to meet. You have some time to look around before your name is called. So, you wait in the comfy armchair next to a table with the neatly arranged magazines that you’ve probably never heard of, and would have even less interest in reading. There are often a few other people waiting with you, generally dressed smarter than yourself, usually in suits that could have been fresh off the tailor’s rack that very morning.

In what seems a very short time another charming young woman or young man appears calling your name. A welcoming hand extends in greeting, and they always have such a friendly smile. You feel good, and their small talk seems interesting. Laughter comes easily at their lighthearted jokes as together you the walk down the quiet corridor to an interview room. The view from the interview room window is usually magnificent.

They leave you alone with a questionnaire to complete prior to the interview. The questionnaire is no trouble, but isn’t this the same information you put in your application. So there you are taking in the view from the window over the rooftops to the distant horizon. You spend so much time waiting you think they’ve gone out to lunch, and the panorama becomes boring. You check your responses to the questionnaire, just in case you left something out. No, it’s all there, and you stare out the window again. Daydreaming is preferable to browsing the copy of the company’s annual report that’s displayed on the nearby rack. The pamphlets of the agency’s services or associated companies are generally always in pristine condition. No one seems to touch them. After an annoyingly long time waiting for someone to return you begin to realise that you are alone, not because it takes 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire, but because the individual who has shown you into the room is probably interviewing someone else in the room next door.

Eventually they return and in a very officious manner seek additional information on any interesting aspects you may have included in the questionnaire. They tell you a bit about the position their client has on offer, and after about 10 or 15 minutes you are out the door and on your way home again, often never to hear from them again. All this could have been done by phone. So why did you spend an hour in the car driving into town, paying a fortune at the parking station, and then as much time on the return trip. Half the day is ruined. You would have been better spending the time applying for a job with a real employer that you had half a chance of getting.

I grew to hate employment agencies when I was unemployed. I don’t know how many times I saw a decent job advertised, but had to apply through a recruitment agency. Of course, the real interview might take place if you meet the agency’s requirements, or rather, their interpretation of their client’s requirements. Yes, their interpretation, because they get it wrong. This a real worry because quite often the agency might contact you some weeks later, because despite having passed you over for the job you applied for, they contact you because they believe they have matched you with some other role, and the worrying thing is that they have mismatched you. Was that why I missed out on the original job, because they didn’t understand my skills and experience. For example, so many times they thought systems analyst was the same thing as data analyst. What goes on in their brain: systems = IT; data = IT; therefore systems analyst = data analyst.

I’m feeling cranky because the one and only job I got with the help of an agency was negotiated by telephone. I spotted an okay looking job on one of the web based job seeking sites, emailed my CV, and after only a few hours the agency was on the phone asking some questions; the same questions other agencies ask, after they insist you come into their office for an interview. Why can’t they all do it by phone? This very commendable agency was Ambit Recruitment. Good people to deal with in my experience. So I don’t mind giving them a plug. A few hours later Ambit rang back with an appointment with the agency’s client for the next day. An actual interview with the employer. It went well, and a further telephone call by Ambit saying they wanted me and asking me to drop by to sign a contract, which was the first time I had been in the agency’s office, and I had a job starting the following Monday.

Stupid Employers

Something that really annoys me with employers is that some of them ask for written referee reports to be provided prior to the interview. This insidious habit should be stamped out. Employers are asking too much by requesting written references at all, but to call for written references from everyone on the short list, prior to the interview, is exceptionally nasty. Don’t play their game.

The relationship you have with your referees exists on a knife-edge balance. If you are on good terms with these people they will probably be happy to support you by saying a few words in your favour. If the relationship is a bit more tenuous you may be in trouble, and if you have the bad luck to apply for a job with a company that requires your referees put their comments in writing you may find you are taxing your friendship, which may ultimately result in them declining to support you.

When the telephone rings from a prospective employer your referees will probably be happy to talk to them. If you were good for the company, they will be pleased to boast of your skills. However, we don’t generally get the first job we apply for, and if your boss or supervisors are your referees, speaking in your favour half a dozen times or more in a month probably won’t bother them too much. It’s part of their job, after all. However, if your referees are put in the position of having to provide a written statement half a dozen times a month the task becomes onerous. And if these stupid employers insist your referees provide a written statement addressing the job selection criteria that task becomes a burden that might make them see you in a less favourable light. It might force you to apply for jobs that are below your skill level.

There is another perspective that these stupid employers seem to have missed. Your referees may well get fed up with it, and if they are easy going may in all likelihood ask you to write up your own reference and pass it to them to sign and submit. So much for the confidential report.

One way of changing this policy is to ask your referees not to participate. Though, if they are decent people they will probably shrug it off saying that it’s no trouble. They are being polite: it’s a lot of trouble. Don’t put them to the nuisance of it. Look after your referees; don’t allow them to be abused by selfish stupid employers.

On a few occasions I have asked employers why they engage in this practice, and the HR section usually give some inane response about being their policy, with little more explanation. It’s probably easier for them. It probably saves them time. Well, in my view, stuff their policy. Take some action to stop it.

In recent years I have tended to exclude referee contact details from my applications. I include a statement in my application saying they will be provided in the event of an interview. Should I be fortunate enough to get to the interview stage I pass my list of referees across the table at the end of the interview. This may also be a gauge of how interested they are in your application. If they ask you for your references before you have the opportunity to produce them you can probably assume they are interested in your application, but if they fail to ask for them I think you can kiss the job goodbye.

One solution to this nasty procedure is to refuse to relinquish control. Don’t provide your referees with your application. When the company HR section later contacts you saying that referee contacts must be provided, explain ever so politely that you understand their request but that you would prefer not to provide them at this stage. Be firm, and remain polite in everything you say. Make up some story if you have to, or simply repeat that you will bring them to the interview if you are short-listed. You might be faced with a response that if you don’t provide contact details your application will be rejected. Now it gets difficult. Will you cave in and let them win, or stick to your guns? Consider this: it’s not generally up to the HR section to determine who gets short-listed. Short-listing is often a decision for the section that needs the staff member. The HR section of the company generally has the task of coordinating the applicants; they don’t usually make the decisions. You’ll know the section contact person’s name from the job ad; ask this HR person that you’re speaking with to refer your request to the contact person. If your application is rejected for this reason and the section gets to hear about it, and they could get to hear about it because you tell them, and if you were a good candidate you may have contributed to changing that company’s policy on recruitment procedures.