Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Louise Berto on January 22, 2013 at 7:13pm

"He gets along with everyone, including me, which is unusual because I'm terrible to work for."

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John T. Sloan on January 22, 2013 at 11:40pm

No kidding...I once had a guy I was recruiting that lived in Transylvania.......when I called his first reference all he would say about my guy was..."he does his best work at night".

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Doug Cohen on January 25, 2013 at 10:41am

I would rehire without a doubt and if I could I would rehire if I had an opening

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on January 25, 2013 at 11:02am

John - That's a great one, Thanks.

John T. Sloan said:

No kidding...I once had a guy I was recruiting that lived in Transylvania.......when I called his first reference all he would say about my guy was..."he does his best work at night".

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Julie Hankins on January 25, 2013 at 11:09am

Actually Ryan....  :)

Ryan Leary said:

Where they speaking about me?

Julie Hankins said:

"He's good but he tends to fall asleep during meetings.  I think he has a medical condition so we really don't discuss it but he's a good worker"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Drue De Angelis on January 25, 2013 at 11:18am

Two different responses from the same VP in the same week about the same Sales Director; "He's a very solid Sales Leader, you can't go wrong if you hire him." & "The guy is lazy and I'll never hire him again!"  Keep in mind, the first was a "reference check," while the latter was just a conversation, underscoring the problem with "reference checks."

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick Yearout on January 27, 2013 at 8:12pm

The most memorable reference check I received was from a woman who emphasized the word 'not' when speaking about her ex-employee.  "Let me tell you about the things he is not: NOT punctual, NOT hygienic, NOT good at following rules, and NOT good with other people."

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Keith Goodwin on January 30, 2013 at 9:01am

Most candidates are typically 'awesome'... but my favorite forms of feedback go something like this:

1) "Yes, Bob is a terrific and smart worker, but can you also find ME a job as well?" or, better yet...

2) "We hate to see Bob go, but can you help replace him quickly?"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Beatty on January 30, 2013 at 1:37pm

My favorite of all:

"This is an absolutely wonderful company to work for and I never want to leave here. I just do not understand why John chose to go somewhere else? Is he nuts?"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nick Lagos on January 30, 2013 at 1:55pm

Past employer:

"Oh, yea... she's great!!!  Go-To-Person on so many levels.... ahh.. she still works here... doesn't she???"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christopher Perez on January 30, 2013 at 3:25pm

Funniest reference-checking call I ever participated in was when I was the reference being called. It caught me off-guard because my name had been given to the caller by one of my employees. She had not told me or anyone else that she was looking for a job, but she put her current boss (me) down as her reference? Read that twice if necessary.

Naturally I invited her into my office for a gentle schooling in the art of looking for a new job while staying under the radar. Although she was mortified at first, I wasn't angry and soon had her laughing. We discussed the things that weren't working for her and we both learned from the chat. She wasn't a bad staffer (not a rockstar either) so I told her that if her mind was made up, I would give her a positive recommendation and we'd part as friends. Life's too short.

For the record, in all my years managing people, I never tried to talk a person out of resigning. This was way before I read all of the blog posts about the perils of the counteroffer. Hell, this was before blogs were even invented.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike on January 31, 2013 at 11:27am

That's a good one!!

Ami Wilson said:

My favorite was a former boss who told me all about the guys family background, bad mouthed him and told me all kinds of bad things he'd done when he worked for him, shouldn't hire him, we'd regret it.  Went on and on but then he said "At least if it's the Jeff I'm thinking about... if it's the other Jeff then you should hire him, he was a great guy.  I have trouble remembering which one is which.  Was this guy blonde?"

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page