Our candidate gave the same references to every firm he was interviewing with…which, fortunately was quite a few. He had three clients of ours checking his references at the same time.He came in second on every job opportunity..which isn’t bad becasue every company’s #2 is someone else’s #1.A
But by the time he got on “third base” with another company, they needed to check his references.
Well, one of the guys he had given simply got tired of giving a reference and wouldn’t return the calls of the potential employer.He just ignored the request. In fact, he wouldn’t return the candidate’s call to find out why he all of a sudden wouldn’t give a reference. Not only was it embarrassing for the candidate, but it really made him look less than what he said he was. He scrambled to get two others.
This is not the first time this kind of thing is happened. Every professional would like to help another professional and certainly don’t mind doing it when it comes to references. It’s one of those “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back” kinds of things. But, when people feel taken advantage of, they’ll get irritated and just plain ignore the situation.
lesson: use a number of different references…keep them informed about who you are going to recommend them to… try to vary them…if you wear them out, they won’t help you.
