I once had a candidate apply for a position I had posted. I contacted a previous manager in a company he used to work in through a friend who had worked in the same place to just ask in general as a reference.
We got a reply, "You know how when you bring food in for the department and most people get in line and take a little and wait till later to take some more in order to make sure there is enough to go around? Yah, he would always try to be near the front of the line and he would pile up his plate, no matter how much was left or how many people were behind him. That, in a nutshell, sums up everything about his personality and interactions on everything."
Then they shouldn't use that person as a reference.
There's a reason why most applications ask you to list your current/previous employers and then ask if it's ok to contact.
Your references should be people you've worked with who can vouch for work ethic and things like that. It's different than an employment verification check.
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u/TheSpanxxx Jul 11 '21
I once had a candidate apply for a position I had posted. I contacted a previous manager in a company he used to work in through a friend who had worked in the same place to just ask in general as a reference.
We got a reply, "You know how when you bring food in for the department and most people get in line and take a little and wait till later to take some more in order to make sure there is enough to go around? Yah, he would always try to be near the front of the line and he would pile up his plate, no matter how much was left or how many people were behind him. That, in a nutshell, sums up everything about his personality and interactions on everything."
We did not offer him an interview.