Naming References

It is quite rare to find an individual who stood by his or her company from the first day of work to retirement. While this could be observed on some individuals especially those who are retiring, the current trend for fresh graduates today is to jump from one company to another. Some could have a different employer every three months since the job seeker is keen on following their idea of the perfect workplace.

The reason for constant job transfers is not on decision making but on the number of choices. There are many careers to choose from today compared two to three decades ago. Because of the choices, many fresh graduates are not sure of their options yet until they are finished in college.

If you’re still seeking for the right career for you, chances are you’re thinking of transferring to another company. While that could happen as long as you have the right qualifications, finding a job in secret could be difficult especially when you are asked with references. Of course, you have to give them information about your current employer.

When you are faced with this dilemma, it’s always better to be honest with the interviewer. By informing your interviewer about your situation, you could be understood why you are a little bit hesitant to give out their information since you have not informed your current employer yet that you are terminating your services. It might be better if you just stayed in the company for a short while which gives you the justification that you are not really that known by your supervisor.

If possible, give your interviewer other options which could be your previous employers. If you do not have past employers, it’s better to use your internship experiences or even professors. Make sure that they will not call your current employer first to avoid bias in the workplace.

Your interviewer will usually honor this request since it is common practice for screeners to get in touch with the current or the latest employer first. You can ask them to skip that and call the person you recommend instead. If they insist, it could be a sign that the company is not really for you. It’s better to go back to your job that be destroyed with just one phone call.

Last but not the least, here’s a simple trick that you can use in your references in case the company will actually call your boss. Anticipate your boss’ review especially on what he’ll say on your weakness. This could be very costly to your interview especially when your weakness is the one the company looks for. To prevent this mishap from happening, counterbalance by providing a reference that could give you a good review regarding your work ethics.

By counterbalancing, your potential employer will have a fair and honest evaluation about your characteristics. The reviews are not necessarily good but that should be enough to convince your potential interviewer that could be a great asset for the company once you are hired.

Editorial Team at Geekinterview is a team of HR and Career Advice members led by Chandra Vennapoosa.

Editorial Team – who has written posts on Online Learning.


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