veggirl Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 What the hell.... I'm recently unemployed (fired, the story is around here) and yesterday I went on an interview with a company who asked if they could use my previous employer as a reference. I said that I provided great professional references on my resume and I'd like them to use those (they are not my most recent employer). Well as soon as I got home from the interview, I got a text from my former co-worker and friend that they called the office for a reference, she answered the phone and they specifically said they are calling for a REFERENCE not just dates of employment. The boss took the call and said who knows what. I'm so mad. Is it common to call someone who is NOT LISTED AS A REFERENCE for a reference? Shouldn't they be calling the people I have listed? I am tempted to email my former employer and request they NOT provide references for me if anyone else calls and rather to just verify employment. Is that okay to do? I was with this company for a year and a half, but my listed references from the job prior to that are all MUCH more applicable to the jobs I am applying for. Plus after being fired in such a rude, unprofessional way (not to mention their reasoning was a bold-faced lie), I don't TRUST this former company to give a reference about me! Link to post Share on other sites
sdrawkcaB ssA Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Usually a company wants to contact the most recent employer. There are some job applications that have you check whether or not you want the employer contacted. You know more about your application than I, so proper digging will tell you what was truly right as an employers rights over yours. Since it sounds like they went behind your back in contacting your past employer. You can look for an attorney for a free consultation. Depending on state regulations, there can be compensation from the company you applied at. The state has offices that can assist with employer practices as well. Not sure what to call the department as not all states use the same nomenclature. I would be PO'd too so what you feel right now is proper to say the least. Link to post Share on other sites
Leigh 87 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 It's such a tough economy that employers probably want to dig deeper... They could have assumed that you and other job seekers could be only putting down " good " references, who you know will say nice things about you. By contacting people whom you didn't nominate, they may feel that they may get some dirt on you. If be furious about your prior employers. Seriously. They let you go, any decent person who had to let an employee go should at least have the decency to provide a glowing reference..... When I was unfairly let go, the manager said she would provide a great reference to compensate, essentially...... Good luck I hope I go that job and your former awful employers gave you the reference that you deserve... Link to post Share on other sites
MsSmurf Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I once worked for a company that would do stuff like this when they looking to hire new employees. Instead of using the requested and provided reference sheet they would contact whoever they wanted from the applicants resume. They also didn't care if the applicant specifically stated not to call certain people. Sometimes the calls were a total waste of time because the company contacted would say they don't provide references for anyone under any circumstances (which is likely why they weren't on the reference sheet). Other times there would be a company contacted that would say things that were defamatory (there are laws in many places against this). And sometimes the company contacted would never respond, so it'd be a sea of endless messages requesting a reference that went ignored (likely why they weren't on the reference sheet). No surprise this led to the company I used to work for wasting a lot of time, having trouble getting anyone to accept open positions, and they were one of the worst places I've ever worked. Ultimately I would not want to work for an employer that operated this way. I understand that they're trying to weed out duds, but at the same time they could open up a dialogue with the applicant about why a particular company isn't being used as a reference. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
denise_xo Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I think what you outline is OK to do. References should only be provided when approved by the applicant. However, you will be facing a general problem with this, as most people who are recruiting will want a reference from your last employer. Link to post Share on other sites
Author veggirl Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 I think what you outline is OK to do. References should only be provided when approved by the applicant. However, you will be facing a general problem with this, as most people who are recruiting will want a reference from your last employer. But a lot of employers will only provide dates of employment and that general info anyway, so that's not much of a reference. Plus a lot of people look for jobs while still employed and obviously aren't going to be providing that employer as a current reference. I provided them with professional references who will attest to my work ethic and abilities. I would understand wanting to talk to my last employer if I'd been there for 10 years or something, but the VAST majority of my work history is with the company I used former bosses as references. Anyhow, I think I'll just ask my last employer to stick to the facts if anyone else calls, I don't see why they shouldn't comply with that. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author veggirl Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 It's such a tough economy that employers probably want to dig deeper... They could have assumed that you and other job seekers could be only putting down " good " references, who you know will say nice things about you. By contacting people whom you didn't nominate, they may feel that they may get some dirt on you. If be furious about your prior employers. Seriously. They let you go, any decent person who had to let an employee go should at least have the decency to provide a glowing reference..... When I was unfairly let go, the manager said she would provide a great reference to compensate, essentially...... Good luck I hope I go that job and your former awful employers gave you the reference that you deserve... When I was let go, the owner did say they would give me a good reference, but HE said that. He's not the person they talked to when they called. They talked to his niece (my direct boss I guess) and SHE is the one who didn't like me there. I don't trust them to give me a good reference, quite frankly. Especially not the niece. She is very petty and work is personal to her...not liking someone would equal a bad reference, I'm afraid. Nothing to do with work, just personal. It sucks. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 This happened to my brother even though he put no to contacting his current employer. Kind of inconsiderate. Most employers use references provided and usually do not contact certain employers without permission (other than just verification). If they went against your wishes, I'd probably reconsider working for such a company. Especially if said employer is a current one. Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 A potential employer can & will call anybody they feel like. They particularly want to talk to anybody you don't want them to talk to. If the niece defamed you you may have a claim against her. Be professional. Call to talk to your old boss. Tell him what happened & ask him to call the new employer. Send him a personal thank you note afterwards. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author veggirl Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 A potential employer can & will call anybody they feel like. They particularly want to talk to anybody you don't want them to talk to. If the niece defamed you you may have a claim against her. Be professional. Call to talk to your old boss. Tell him what happened & ask him to call the new employer. Send him a personal thank you note afterwards. I don't know what they said about me though. I'm just freaking out because their past actions have been far from professional and I wouldn't be surprised if they said untrue things about me during this phone call. I have no way to verify this. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I don't know what they said about me though. I'm just freaking out because their past actions have been far from professional and I wouldn't be surprised if they said untrue things about me during this phone call. I have no way to verify this. Call the former boss & express your discomfort. Don't accuse, since you don't know what she said but get to the bottom of it. Ask him to call the new employer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
lollipopspot Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Ugh. I've had something similar, in a way. I left a horrible, abusive company once, and it wasn't on the greatest of terms, I just had to get out. I didn't get the next job that I was in line for because they called the previous place and it was "hinted" that things didn't go well, even though they weren't supposed to. If you don't get this job, is there any way you can just leave this last company off your resume and say you did something else in the meantime? Regardless of the laws or policies, people find ways to get information to each other, if they are in contact. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
thefooloftheyear Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Even if I let someone go, unless they really screwed me over(which has never really happened), I wont bad mouth the person..I just wont say anything glowingly nice or go on and on about how great they were....Ill reserve that type of recommendation for amicable types of splits.... Its a good chance your former employer did the same thing....Most employers are afraid of getting sued at this point that they just dont make waves...Anyway, in a lot of cases its a competitor that will hire the displaced worker...and if they were worthless you want them to hire the person...They'll just wond up dragging down your competition...which is good... Not saying that about the OP.... TFY Link to post Share on other sites
lollipopspot Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Most employers are afraid of getting sued at this point that they just dont make waves... They are, but I think there can be "hints" that aren't so subtle, or if the two people are chummy on the phone they'll say, "Just between you and me..." I think a lot of people can't keep their mouths shut and just let someone move on to a another job without creating some trouble for them or sabotaging it. People can be petty if they don't like someone. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts