As I discussed in this series of articles it is not wise to assume your references can only (legally) confirm your former title/dates of employment. So what do you do about a bad reference? Well, one option is a Cease and Desist Letter.
Cease-and-Desist letters are typically issued by the attorney retained to represent you, to the senior management of the company where the negative reference originated, alerting the management of the negative reference’s identity and actions. Typically the very act of offering a negative reference is against corporate guidelines, which normally state that only a former employee’s title/dates of employment can be confirmed. The negative reference is cautioned by management not to offer additional comments and – out of self-interest – will usually not offer negative commentary again.
If you’re unsure as to whether a negative reference is impacting your job seeking efforts, whom can you contact? Allison & Taylor, Inc. (www.allisontaylor.com), a reference checking service in business since 1984, will interview your reference(s) and document their input word-for-word. Approximately 50% of all reference checks conducted by Allison & Taylor uncover negative input from the reference; their report can be used for legal purposes or for the Cease-&-Desist letter described above.
A negative reference is likely to continue offering the same input to every prospective employer that calls unless you detect it and take steps to stop it. Job seekers can lose many opportunities before they realize what is happening. It’s never too early to identify – and address – a negative job reference.
To find out how Allison and Taylor can help you visit www.AllisonTaylor.com.