There seems to be one (or more) in every workplace: the “over sharer” or unregulated speaker. This is the person who has not quite mastered the “think before you speak” philosophy, who has yet to realize that “loose lips sink ships.”
In the professional world, this behavior often manifests itself in the workplace as an inappropriate joke, sharing too much personal information or leaking confidential company data. And while this person can be a challenge to work with on a day to day basis, they can be downright catastrophic as a reference, providing much more information than is warranted or requested (or prudent) to a potential employer.
With 30 years as a reference checking and reference consulting company, Allison & Taylor has heard it all: discrimination in many forms, references explaining the relationships / sleeping habits of former employees, HR Managers refusing to comment until the “litigation is complete” and Board Members who say “Are you sure he listed me as a reference?”
If you are considering or in the midst of a career change, and suspect that someone may provide negative input as a reference, take the proactive step of a reference check… before the office “over sharer” has a chance to torpedo your chances of landing that great new job. Professional reference checking may have one or more objectives, e.g. damage control, name clearing, warning the former employer that the employee is in the marketplace [the sanguine employer realizing it does have a duty to mitigate both its and its former employee’s damages], extending the opportunity to the former employer to aid the former employee in securing employment so the former employee can discontinue unemployment compensation chargeable to the employer, etc.
Come back next time and read about some specific scenarios of references oversharing and what you can do about it.
Here is what one Allison and Taylor Inc. client had to say after using our job reference service:
“I love this service! I am extremely satisfied and definitely recommend it to others. Thank you, so much for being communicative, supportive, available. I value how you each appreciate my specific needs as a blind individual with regards to using a screen reader program to access the internet. You’ll have my business anytime I need to get information. Thank you all! Now. It is up to me to get a job!”
To find out more about reference checking, please visit Allison & Taylor.