Following reference rules can avoid an awkward situation
Dear J.T. & Dale: A co-worker shared with me that she is looking for a new job and asked me to be a reference. I agreed because I’m also thinking about leaving the company and felt she could be a reference for me. However, my company does have a policy that only managers can give references, so if I get caught, I could get in trouble. Well, I got a call from a potential employer, and they wanted to confirm all of the accomplishments that she claimed were hers in her current role. She took a lot of liberties and a lot of credit for things that she didn’t accomplish alone.
I honestly didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to contradict it, but at the same time, I’m not saying that she did in fact do those things when she didn’t. Basically, I put myself in a really bad position and I don’t know how to get out of it. Thoughts? — Kandace
J.T.: First, you should know there’s a reason that companies set strict rules around who can give references. It’s because a company can be sued for the reference they give, so they train their people on what they can and can’t say. I knew of a company that had an employee steal $10,000 from them. They didn’t want their customers to find out, so they just told her to find a new job. When a new employer called for a reference check, the old company said they had no problems with her. Well, guess what? She ended up stealing from her next employer. That employer ended up suing the previous employer for lying. That’s why you need to be very careful about reference checks.
DALE: That also explains why many companies simply refuse to give references and will only verify dates of employment.
J.T.: Now, at this point, I think you should start looking for a new job immediately. Let’s hope that breaking the rules doesn’t come back to bite you. From now on, leave reference checking to management.
DALE: One more thing: Please be broadminded about your former colleague’s listing achievements she “didn’t accomplish alone”; after all, if you’re on the team, you get the victory.
Dear J.T. & Dale:
I worked for the government for 20 years and am now about to retire with a pension. I want to find a completely new career path. Do you think I need to go back to college to do that? I currently do not have a college degree. — Brooks
DALE: Oh, this is a painful one for me. My father was a college professor, as were two of my uncles. And, early in my career, I was on the adjunct faculty at two colleges. I love college.
But your question is forcing me to confront the fact that I mostly love it as the transition from adolescence to adulthood, a safe place to get away from home and try on personas, which might help in figuring out a career path. And, oh yeah, you get to learn some history, science, English and math, and that also helps you know what you were meant to do and be. Looking at that list, not all of it applies to you. And that takes us to what so many colleges are becoming: job-training facilities. The upshot is that college becomes a decision of whether or not a degree is required for what you want to do next.
J.T.: A college degree would be an expensive way to figure that out. So, I wouldn’t immediately rush to go back to school. Oftentimes you won’t see the return on that investment. I think you first need to figure out what profession you want to get into by conducting some informational interviews with people who have jobs that are of interest to you. Many times, you can learn how to get into a field without a college degree. There might be some sort of certification that you can get that is much less expensive and less timeconsuming.
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten is founder of The Innovators’ Lab and author of a novel about H.R., “The Weary Optimist.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2022 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.