Getting your player ready...
Dear J.T. & DALE: I have a question about getting references. I’ve worked for many years in the same small company. Our employee handbook states that no one is to give out references. The owner has made clear her belief that anyone who quits left under bad circumstances. That basically means that I would have no professional references to give prospective employers. If asked, there are co-workers who probably would break the rules and provide a reference. My other option is to use very old references. Suggestions? – Stacy
J.T.: First, remember that your references won’t be checked until a company is about to make you an offer. When that time comes, explain to the employer the impossible situation your current employer has put you in. Then, if you really want the job, you’ll have to tell them that you’re willing to ask people in the office to be confidential references, but you’ll have to ask them in private and get their personal phone numbers. Then, go to two colleagues privately and explain the situation. Tell them you’d be happy to be a reference for them should they want to leave someday. While your boss may have set all these rules in her favor, it doesn’t mean you have to adhere to them. In fact, when potential employers hear about her policies, they’ll understand what type of employer you are leaving. DALE: You know the last thing a person thinking of hiring you wants to hear? This: “Oh, poor me, I have this meanie old boss and I can’t give you references. But if I break some rules and compromise the positions of a couple of colleagues, I can come up with something. Poor me.” What to do instead? First, it’s common that you can’t provide references from your current employer. So, instead of whining about how you don’t have any other recent references, expand your thinking. There are dozens, probably hundreds, of people who have seen you in action. Start with former employees of your current employer. Next, turn to the company’s clients and suppliers. Try to find ones who are at a manager’s level, because the real question underlying references is, “Is this person someone I want working for me?” Get answers to that question – there are plenty of people who can answer it – and you don’t have to fear thereference issue. Dear J.T. & Dale: After several years as a marketer at a dynamic firm, it was time to move on. I researched the job market carefully before choosing my current employer. However, I’ve been in the job for four months and am completely disillusioned. I am not doing the type of marketing I expected. My boss has vision – that’s what made me want to work for her – but I’m concerned that the corporate culture will thwart her efforts. Should I cut my losses now? – Tyler DALE: Don’t just sit back and wonder if your boss will succeed. Spend some time with her, maybe offsite, discussing her frustrations. Get her to open up to you, because you need to better assess her chances of culture change. If you could see yourself becoming her close ally and see you two succeeding together, it could be a dramatic career victory. J.T.: That’s possible, but unlikely, so don’t linger on that assessment. What worries me is that you are NOT doing the work you wanted to be doing, and thus you’re NOT building your relevant skill sets. Every month you do something unrelated, you make it harder to get yourself back on track. So, I would start networking … quietly. When you’re asked why you want to leave so soon, say: “My new boss is also new, and it has become apparent that her vision for the marketing isn’t going to be embraced, which means I won’t ever get to do the type of work I thought I’d be doing. I’d rather find the right organization now than wait for something I’m pretty sure isn’t going to happen.” I know that may be hard for you to say, but remember, you need to work “with” an employer, not “for” him or her. – Workplace consultant and career coach J.T. O’Donnell has coached, trained and mentored employees and managers on a wide variety of career-related subjects since 1994. Her book, “CAREEREALISM: The Smart Approach to A Satisfying Career” is available at JTODonnell.com.
Management guru Dale Dauten has written six books and is an authority on innovation in the workplace. His latest book, “Great Employees Only: How Gifted Bossess Hire & Dehire Their Way to Success” is available at Dauten.com. ©2012 King Features Syndicate.
