Getting "Burned" by a Great Reference...

This past week I’ve been working on references for a CIO for one of my search assignments, and as usual, it has taken days to get all of the references to return my many phone calls and voice mail messages… I my practice, I give my clients (and encourage them too!) the option to contact some of the references on their own as I think it is a very good practice to do so. It gives the client the change to talk openly with a former colleague, hiring manager or CEO to get a different perspective on how the individual performed in their previous role. A dangerous option to give clients by some standards (and some competitors) - but my clients’ actually appreciate the openness of the process.

During this reference check in which the candidate provided their “great references” my client got an “earful” and it was not “pretty”. My client instantly built a rapport with the reference and the flood-gates opened with honest candor about this candidate. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Now what? The only thing I could do at this point was to coach the candidate to call each reference and find out if they had heard from my client and to discuss how the call went. Unless the client is willing (and they usually are not) to divulge where the bad reference came from – it sort of it what it is.

Moral of the story: If you plan to use the same set of references during your career you are playing Russian roulette with the outcome. You may not even know where your reference is working as you may only have their cell number or home number. What if they are working for a competitor? What if something negative happened after you stopped working with that individual and somehow you were blamed for it and thrown under the bus and didn’t even know it?

I recommend you know your references- and I mean know them well. If they are a solid reference and you plan to use them during your career – you should stay in touch ….even when you don’t need to use them in a job search. Know where they work, what they are doing these days and make darn sure you call them and discuss the fact that you will be using them in your search. Tell them the kind of role you are in search of (you don’t have to tell them the name of the prospective company yet) and why you feel you are best suited for the role. Ask them if there is anything about being a reference for you that might make them feel uncomfortable. Dig, dig, dig and dig some more. Thank them for being your reference and once you land in your new role send them a hand written thank you note and your new business card so they can stay in touch.

Bottom Line: Know your references and know them well!