How to act when asked to be a reference in your CV?

If you feel uncomfortable making a reference in your CV, say no.

We are not required to make references in our CV, so we can refuse. Don't accept the invitation out of respect and then give a superficial introduction, this will do more harm than good. The employer will sense our hesitation and their evaluation of the candidate will also be more or less affected.

I was once asked whether it was okay to give a positive recommendation about a former employee. This person often comes to work late, often has conflicts with colleagues and is incompetent. After pondering, I answered: "I also want to support you, but I really don't have much to say." It's a shame to refuse, but it's better than having to say negative things.

But we don't always have the opportunity to refuse and will be put in a fait accompli situation. There was a candidate who, before asking for my opinion, put my name on his CV because he thought I would agree anyway. When I refused, she said that if I received a call, I should hang up and not say bad things. I didn't receive any calls, but if I did, I wouldn't say anything bad about her. She wasn't a good employee before, but maybe she could do better at another company.

Things to keep in mind if you agree to be a reference in your CV

If refusing sounds easy, then agreeing to be a reference on your CV will be a bit more complicated. The first is to check the company's policies. Most businesses have regulations on providing reference information. Many places can only talk about the start date, title and official leave date. There are also many companies that allow more information to be disclosed. So even if we're willing to say only good things, it's a good idea to check with HR to see what's okay to say and what's not.

“With understanding, you will provide appropriate references and will feel comfortable with the reference role on your CV.”

Once you've agreed to serve as a reference, there's an unwritten rule to answer any questions from a potential employer honestly even at the risk of losing a relationship. Many people wonder why not "polish" the candidate a bit? The simple answer is because none of us are perfect.

It will be disadvantageous for candidates when we say that they are good at a certain job when in fact they know nothing about it, or conversely say that their achievements at work are not significant even though we know they are very good. Good. If we “over-advertise the truth” we may unintentionally set them up for failure in their new job when it turns out they can't complete the task we said they could. On the contrary, if we say that they did a bad job even though we know that they did a good job, we are preventing them from getting the job. Therefore, the best response is to be honest, neither hiding the bad nor minimizing the good.

Honesty not only helps candidates but also helps us avoid trouble. Telling the truth means eliminating the possibility that a potential employer will judge us as intentionally lying and being mean to the person they are trying to get to know.

Speaking of honesty, I also want to say a little more. Surely we have heard the phrase Half the truth is not necessarily the truth. Withholding information that we know to be true can also be problematic. Suppose we know that the candidate has a hot temper and has had a lot of trouble at work because he doesn't know how to control his emotions. What could be the consequences if we say “she is as gentle as a piece of dough” even though we know that is not true? Suppose that, at least in part because of our recommendation, that person is hired. Let's also say that she hurts a customer or colleague. We certainly cannot escape being judged for sloppy introductions.

At this point, a question arises: "Should we answer all the employer's questions?". Absolutely not! If we have agreed to be a reference in our CV, we should not only give honest answers but also limit our answers, specifically not answering unrelated questions. to general work performance! Suppose the question "What is Mr. A's personality like?", should we answer? Absolutely, but the trick is to phrase the answer in terms of performance and say something like, “I think he has a very outgoing personality at work.” Or to the question "Is Ms. B sociable?", the answer could be: "I think Ms. B works very well with people."

On the other hand, if a question is completely unrelated to job performance and cannot be equated to job performance in any way, then don't answer.