As I discussed yesterday, there are many reasons not to have your friends or relative check your references for you. We covered reasons 1 to 3, here are reasons 4 to 7.
4. A reference checked by a friend is not legally supportable. If a friend calls and confirms that your reference is providing career-damaging input, you will have no recourse to use this hearsay report for legal or remedial action. A professional reference checking company provides a legally supportable report and may even offer services to help you neutralize a bad reference.
5. A friend might not answer your reference’s return call in a professional manner. Your friend might not be in a position to take a reference’s return call, if it is necessary. There is also the possibility that someone else would take a return call instead of your friend. Also, a suspicious reference might check their Caller ID and perceive what you are up to – not a situation you want with your all-important reference.
6. A friend might “sugar coat” negative information about you. It’s hard to be the bearer of bad news, especially to a friend who may not be receptive to hearing some really unflattering information.
7. If suspicious of the interviewer, a formerly good reference may become a bad one. If your reference suspects they are being manipulated, you could lose their trust and willingness to act as a favorable future reference.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking a casual call from a friend takes the place of a check by a professional reference checking organization such as Allison & Taylor, who confirm that approximately 50% of all reference checks they conduct reveal negative information. Good references are one of your greatest assets when looking for a job, and employers take them very seriously. Make sure yours measure up.