Help Been given bad reference

Tiddlywinks

You left the company without notice - did you expect the Chairman to pat you on the back?

Regarding his mention of 'competence' - you would need to see the exact wording as the term 'competencies' is now used widely to describe and assess against job requirements e.g. resource management, verbal reasoning etc. The Chairman may be perfectly correct in saying that he would not employ you again based on his assessment of your competencies against your previous role - after all, you have already clearly shown unreliability (as in leaving with no notice). In leaving you may have missed deadlines, shown a lack of team working, lack of verbal communication skills.... need I go on?

You need to now think carefully as to how you show your reason for leaving your last job when applying for others in the future. Many employers will always want to check your current or last employer for a reference as that is the most relevant to showing the person you are now. As you occupied this post for 5 years I would be surprised if they let you leave this out of the referencing process.

grudz

All you can really do is get back on the dole, should be able to do a rapid reclaim, and do some voluntary work or agency temping to gain some better references.

For future reference, NEVER sign off the dole until you physically start your first day, (ring job centre on ur lunch break or something).

anamenottaken

grudz wrote: »

All you can really do is get back on the dole, should be able to do a rapid reclaim, and do some voluntary work or agency temping to gain some better references.

For future reference, NEVER sign off the dole until you physically start your first day, (ring job centre on ur lunch break or something).

Your advice not to sign off until you actually start work is sound but there's no suggestion by the OP that I see that they had signed off.

Edit: I was wrong about OP not mentioning signing off - had not seen it in the dense text. Thanks to d123 for pointing that out.

d123

anamenottaken wrote: »

there's no suggestion by the OP that I see that they had signed off.

The OP says so in message #1

chan_ok wrote: »

and caused inconvenience as i signed off benefits when job was offered and now have to reclaim.

sassyblue

bristol_pilot wrote: »

About half way down the page on this link - under 'conditional fee'

http://www.carter-ruck.com/Media%20Law/Questions_And_Answers.asp

That is libel in the MEDIA eye not employment law and CR are laughable after the Trafigura and McCann episodes.

November5th

chan_ok wrote: »

I was with the organisation for over 5 years and definitely was competent, i achieved a great deal whilst being in their employment, yes i was in breach of my contract by resigning with no notice but to say he would not rehire me due to competency i feel is misleading and untrue and he cannot back up that statement with evidence.
I did explain to the new employer that i felt his comments were not true but by that time they withdrew the job offer.
i certainly will not be using my previous for references again, which is a shame as it will definitely impact my future job seeking.
But still not sure where to go from here, do i contact the chairman or not.

I have a similar situation. I use external clients and very trusted references. I specifically ask that the ex MD is not contacted and I explain why, also explaining why my references actually give a true account of my abilities and personality. I still dread what happened to you happening to me. I would not have used that MD for references even if I had left on good terms.
Real element of dashed bad luck here, I wish you better in the future.

Googlewhacker

November5th wrote: »

I have a similar situation. I use external clients and very trusted references. I specifically ask that the ex MD is not contacted and I explain why, also explaining why my references actually give a true account of my abilities and personality. I still dread what happened to you happening to me. I would not have used that MD for references even if I had left on good terms.
Real element of dashed bad luck here, I wish you better in the future.

What is company policy though? If the company policy is that all referances go through the MD you are screwed.

November5th

Googlewhacker wrote: »

What is company policy though? If the company policy is that all referances go through the MD you are screwed.

There never was any company policies and the ex MD was and is a headcase, seriously. He funds the company with inherited wealth and has never made a penny in his life. There are professional ways to point this out to future employers, I am happy to let them know that the circumstances of my leaving were not amicable, there is no shame in it, it happens to most of us at one time or another. I had the balls to stand up to him, which actually gets respect.

chan_ok

I only use the two line managers that i worked with for references and this has never been a problem in the past, i was warned by one of the managers that i would possibly get a bad reference off the Chairman so never gave his details, it was my bad luck that both line managers are on annual leave and the request for reference was passed to Chairman who is a headcase to ! he must of took great delight in giving a bad reference. i feel this was an act of spite rather than a professional opinion and he is well known for it to.

cheapcheap_2

I didn't think your previous employer could give you a bad reference, thought they just didn't reply anymore and that informed new employer something might be wrong but gave you the chance to use another one.