Hi ladies! Work advice needed.

angeliza

Hi girls! Sorry I went MIA again for so long. Actually for the past 2 months I haven't been able to log into my account and today I decided I was just going to create a new one, and wouldn't you know it, this account worked again!

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts about my current situation. I'm a supervisor at my company and I have a fantastic employee who is looking for a job closer to home since her current commute is over an hour. She is really one of our best performers and I want so much to help her get the job she's applying for but our company has a no reference policy and only HR is allowed to provide employment info. This employee has been with our company for 3 years and is young and doesn't have a lot of previous work experience or people from past jobs she could contact for a reference. The job she's trying to get is basically dependent upon her being able to provide a work reference and no one here is allowed to give her one. Obviously I can't afford to lose my job so I can't bend the rules for her or anything, but it got me thinking about my own situation.

I've recently been thinking about looking for other opportunities myself. There's not a lot out there right now so this is more of a down the road kind of thing, but I'm in the same boat as my employee in that I don't have much previous work experience and I've also been with this company for 6 years already so there isn't anyone from a previous job that I'd feel comfortable contacting to ask for a reference at this point. So I'm wondering... how exactly am I supposed to get a new job if I can't provide any employment references?

KatieLG04

I've wondered the same thing. I have asked 2 former supervisors who are no longer at the agency to be references as well as a former co-worker.  They are all considered professional references but it doesn't violate the agency's policy.  Would this work for you? 

danieleandwayne

I'm confused. How can your company have a no reference policy? If a prospective employer calls to verify a reference, your company has to say if you worked there or not. I can understand if they have a (in my opinion) lame-faced policy on not providing more than the minimum "yes s/he worked here and was not fired," but they should still be required to verify former employment...

A lot of hiring is removing the fear of an unknown variable-- that's kind of the whole point behind references in the first place. So if you know someone or can make a connection to a company you're interested in, that is a good way to get a foot in the door. Even without knowing people here in Maine, I was able to call companies I was interested in and say "I would love to pick your brain about the field/industry" and then that conversation would remove that fear for the employer while also giving me a back-door way of introducing myself as a possible candidate for a job.

I don't know if that makes any sense (it does in my head)... Hope it helps, though.

Bre42

I worked for a hospital system in NY before moving back to Maine, and it was the same situation, I was told HR could only confirm my employment, and not give a character reference. When I questioned this (I was panicking, d/t same reasons, it was the first "real" job I had ever had!) I was told it was bc hospitals had been sued by former employees who were angry about poor references and that if you are going between companies in the same field, that they will expect this type of situation. The 3 referneces I ended up using were a co-worker who was not a manager, a supervisor from a consulting job I did on the side, and my grad school advisor, even though I had been out for 4 yrs he was still happy to be a reference. It's not an easy situation, and makes me angry, but I still got the job I wanted in Maine, even without references from direct supervisors

jniffer63

that's crazy. do managers give reviews? that can't be considered when trying to move positions internally. this is absolute insanity. do you have anyone lateral to you that's not her manager that can do it?

angeliza

jniffer63:

that's crazy. do managers give reviews? that can't be considered when trying to move positions internally. this is absolute insanity. do you have anyone lateral to you that's not her manager that can do it?

I totally agree it's crazy. And it's so frustrating. As a supervisor, I give reviews to the employees who work under me and my manager gives reviews to me twice a year. However the policy is super strict. If we're contacted by someone looking either to confirm employment or to get a reference for a current or former employee, we are not even allowed to confirm if the person works or worked here, we have to refer them to HR who will verify only the basics required by law. The policy is super strict, I really didn't understand the seriousness of it and I told an employee applying for an internal position that she could use me as a reference and got a serious talking to from my boss who said if I did anything like that again I could be fired. The turnover of supervisors, managers, etc. here is extremely low so everyone familiar with my performance as a supervisor (or for that matter the performance of the employee I wanted to provide a reference for) is still currently employed here and therefore unable to provide a reference.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks it's insane. MH assured me last night when I was venting to him about it that many companies have policies like this and therefore many companies are understanding about not being able to provide employment references. He does some hiring at his job and he said as long as they are able to verify past employment, that's usually enough. Thanks for all the responses though, and Daniele, I think you made a good point about going to someone to talk about the field I'm interested in to get a foot in the door.