Posted under Career Management on May 19th, 2007
Renee Montagne, a commentator and reporter on NPR’s Morning Edition – May 18th, asked a question that many prospective employers must ask when confronted with glowing written testimonials. If the outgoing President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, “acted in good faith,” as their written statement indicates, then why is he leaving?
This is not the forum to debate the judgment of Mr. Wolfowitz or even the World Bank Board. The way in which “Wolfie” departed his post offers a teaching moment for those of us interested in references, recommendations, and testimonials. According to the 2004 Reference and Background Checking Survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 96% of all organizations conduct some kind of background or reference check on prospective hires, and almost 50% of survey respondents reported that reference checks found inconsistencies in dates of previous employment, criminal records, former job titles, and past salaries. So unless you are a high profile policy wonk, honesty is important.
*How can we reveal a credible and acceptable analysis of what may have been a tumultuous departure?
*How can we offer references and recommendations when employment may not have terminated on our terms?
For most of us, the reasons for our departure from a previous job are not so visible, political, or even egregious. Nevertheless, we need to be able to acknowledge our incompatibilities and look for a new start without the enmity or cloud of a former employer. Some ideas:
*Give yourself some time to go through the “mourning process,” which includes anger and denial. Once you are ready to accept the departure, identify what you gained from the previous position and prepare a self-reflective “exit summary.”
*Contact others with whom you’ve worked, e.g. other managers, colleagues, vendors, customers, and ask a few of them if they’ll serve as a reference for you.
*Coach your references so they can honestly speak to aspects of your work relationship that you believe represent your talents.
*Request written recommendations only if you are in a field that requires them, e.g. academia and teaching. Written recommendations for candidates in other fields are viewed as self-serving. Why would a candidate carry around and distribute a testimonial that was not glowing?
Most of us have encountered untenable situations in our work life, and we learn and grow as a result. As Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.“
Mr. Wolfowitz has apparently not learned from his mistakes, as he insisted that the Board share responsibility for his errors of judgment, and demanded that a written list of his accomplishments be published. We can do better.
Posted by Karen P. Katz
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Louise Kursmark on 21 May 2007 at 9:30 am #
Excellent points, Karen! It will be interesting to see where Mr. Wolfowitz lands next, given his high-profile positions and equally high-profile departure. His “reference reviews” are all over the media.