One of the most difficult obstacles some people face when looking for a job is finding a current job referee who can provide insight into your knowledge, skills, and how you fit into the workplace. This is especially true for people who have been laid off and their supervisors have also lost their jobs and left. This is a more complex issue.
But what about the job applicant who thinks his referee will give him a good report only to find out a year later that he has actually been responsible for his failed job applications? They may never know or they may find out too late and have wasted valuable time. The longer you are unemployed, the more difficult it will be to find a job. In fact, the arbitrator may not even have realized that his or her arbitrator report did not convince the applicant to the satisfaction of the prospective employer.
In one case, I discovered that a referee gave such a vicious vindictive report that I believed the job applicant had grounds for legal action. The job applicant had been in regular contact with his referee and was told that everything was fine and that he was friendly. There had to be an explanation for why the job applicant had such positive interviews only to be told that he was unsuccessful, and this led me to check it out.
Not all bad referee reports are deliberate. Being someone’s referee is a very responsible task and the job applicant must ensure that the chosen referee is on her side. The two parties need to talk about their mutual obligations and put a process in place on how it will work for them. The job applicant must be sure that the referee understands that the report of him could get him the job or be responsible for his losing it.
Referees must be nurtured. In the first instance, they should be provided with the job applicants resume and a list of the type of jobs they are targeting. They should also be told about skills the job seeker had that they didn’t use in their last job. When a job applicant gets an interview, she must provide the referee with her job description and job application.
My policy is to advise job applicants to leave the names of the referees off the resume and state that the referee will be provided at the interview. There are many privacy issues related to the appointment of an arbitrator and contact details on resumes. Many referees do not like their names and details being available to one and all. Ideally, you should have two arbitrators that an employer can contact if possible.
When it’s all over and you get your job, you need to give the referee some kind of gift. Maybe a nice bottle of wine!