Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Reference Frustration

I am very frustrated today.

I have a potential job offer on the table from the job that I interviewed for on July 2nd. They called me this morning and told me they had been trying to get a hold of my references since July 6th. That is 3 whole weeks! I could have had this job 3 weeks ago but my references seem to be avoiding her phone calls.

One reference, a previous boss, I am going to take off my resume completely. Her title looks good, but she is just not accessible.

Another reference, a coworker/supervisor has been able to get in touch with my potential employer and was actively trying. Thank you!

The last one seems to be avoiding all contact. I wonder why...

Have you ever had problems with references? Who are the best people to use?

4 comments:

  1. My reference situation is a bit of a disaster. A lot of my former bosses who would actually know something about me have moved on and I have no idea how to contact them.I could get thier supervisors to do my reference but they only really know me by name. I've recently started asking for reference letters rather than just listing them. This way if they leave thier position you still have thier recommendation on paper.

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  2. That is a great idea. I think I will do that starting with the boss I want to remove from my references. Thanks!

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  3. Is there a good way to request this?

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  4. Jo-Lynn,

    I've just started asking if they would be willing to write me a reference letter rather than asking if I can list them on my resume. Usually they'll include thier contact info in the letter so that they can be contacted directly if nessecary. At least that's been my experience.

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