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I once had an intern who previously worked for me call and ask that I be used as a reference, but lie about what they did and for how long. I was like: uh… no if I get a phone call I will describe your role accurately.
Crazy that they would think anyone would do that
I'd probably be willing to lie depending on how far out it was. Like if a job asked for your references for the past four years and they were there for three I'd probably fudge the numbers
At one of my old jobs, someone who was a manager at another business called and assumed I was a manager as well. He asked for a reference on an employee who had recently quit. The guy who left hadn’t been very good at the job, but he was a good person, clearly trying something different in a new field. I gave him a good “reference”, and the other manager sounded happy.
I wonder how it went for my old coworker…
I'm not sure what it's like in other countries but in the UK most of the time they will not be able to say anything bad about you even if you were awful
Really? How come?
In Germany a reference must be written in a kind manner by law. So there's this codified language called Zeugnissprache, or reference language.
For example she carried out her tasks with care can mean she's inefficient.
One time my buddy got fired from Jiffy Lube so I changed my voicemail to 72nd street Jiffy Lube and gave glowing praise as his manager.
"We don't do that"
On the flip side, I've told people flat out not to use me as a reference because I'll be honest in what I think of them.
You mean like a random person at your previous job? Why wouldn't you get a reference from a coworker/manager/boss that you were friendly with during that employment? Lets be honest, if everyone at that place hated you & you have no one friendly there to give you references then you probably should avoid using anyone there as a reference.
It's also possible I'm overthinking this, right now I work at a small business whose owner is very spiteful & always talking badly about people he dislikes (employees & otherwise). That would absolutely be the last person I would use for a professional reference if/when I leave the job, LOL. Luckily all my coworkers get along great so I'd have plenty of other references to use there.
No I'm talking about situations where you want to find out if someone is actually giving you a positive reference in situations where things might not have ended on the best terms.
For example someone quiting because they said they couldn't work Wednesday and their boss calling them lazy.
You could get a friend to call posing as a potential employer to find out.