this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2024
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Job References
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Huh.
So Imma ask what I hope others would agree is as obvious a question as my bran thinks it is.
Lemmy is the sort of place where lots of people who don't know each other at all go, right? And generally when asking for a reference, you're asking people who know you and preferably have something to say about your character or past work to be your reference, right? And the reference is expected to either write a letter of recommendation or be ready during a certain period of time to receive a call and speak about the potential employee's character or past work, right?
So, for this community are you envisioning people giving references for folks who they know IRL? Or for people they know pretty well as fellow users of Lemmy go? Or not at all? Are you envisioning references spending time getting to know the potential employee so they can give a reasonable reference? Or maybe are you envisioning the reference being honest about barely even knowing the potential employee's name? Or is this community more like "hey, if anyone would be willing to lie to help me get a job, that'd be great"?
Honestly, I've never been asked to be a reference and I haven't often needed one. So full disclosure, I kinda don't know much about how these things work.
I have the same questions/concerns. I have been a reference for a few friends both for jobs and for personal things (pet adoptions, apartment applications, etc). While some job references are literally “did this person work with you at xyz company during these dates” most are looking for more. They want a somewhat more in depth feel for if the person is trustworthy, has experience they say they do, and if they will fit into the team that is looking at hiring them. Personal references often want an even deeper understanding. These are not things anyone could honestly give about a stranger on the internet they don’t know. At best this would go unquestioned by a hitting manger, but for anything other than a true entry level job (and even many of those), it’s likely a fake reference like this would lead to more questions by the manger or would lead to someone getting a job they aren’t actually qualified for or don’t actually vibe with the team they are working with. At the least this is clearly dishonest. It shouldn’t be that hard to find a coworker or friend to be a reference for you. If you really, truly cannot find a single soul you actually know that would be willing to spend 5-10 minutes on a call to help you out you ships probably work on that instead of asking random internet strangers to “do you a solid”. Shoot, you can even use folks you are friends with through online services. Maybe you play a game with the same few people all the time, or you are super active on a forum somewhere, or even super active here on Lemmy. Reaching out to users you know and discussing in private the details would be better than just hoping someone will lie for you.
Hey, thx for the great points. I'm in the IT field and have given and requested refs many dozens of times legitimately. I would say from all those calls the same questions come up over and over. More recently, due to legal reasons, I'd say the calls have become very basic and short. Every so often, there will be an inquisitive HR/recruiter, but after 20 years of IT, it's never a problem. As for giving refs via communities like Lemmy, Reddit, etc., I did that myself the 1st time due to not wanting my current employer to know and being 1 short of the typical 3 refs requested because of last-minute ghosting. I ended up finding someone on Reddit, did a quid pro quo, and it went great. After that, I continued to participate, giving another 6 refs or so successfully. One guy has reached out to me about once a year, which is typical for IT. I eventually switched to gig work and at one point needed 9 refs total for 3 bids. I ended up using a combo of legit, old, and new Reddit refs, and a website service. I never heard anything negative from anyone and got 2 of the 3 bids. Anyway, I think you raised some great points, and skepticism is the best approach when connecting with someone. I also think my perspective is distorted because my world is corporate IT. However, due to observation over 4 years in various communities, it appears people have been successful in other fields as well. You also had a great point when you said, "Reaching out to users you know and discussing in private the details would be better than just hoping someone will lie for you." Typically, these communities are for doing exactly that, meeting new people, getting to know them via communication, skills, bio exchanges, and then helping each other out. Thx for your input, take care!
My experiences are all in IT as well, but are likely skewed as the security requirements for my current position require a lot deeper investigation that strangers on the internet not only couldn’t fulfill, but going that route would confidently cause me to lose my job due to not being able to pass the extensive background investigation. I’ve mostly writhed in federal government positions as a contractor so this experience is normal to me, when working in a position of trust, being paid out of tax dollars and with access/cognizance over sensitive systems that must be kept secure for the security of everyone, intrusive and through investigations are par for the course.
Glad you mentioned this. I need to do a post on the topic. Certain positions or fields don't align with this community. I've seen positions like yours posted in certain threads, which makes me question the sanity of the poster. Fortunately, they are usually ignored or deleted. And from what I’ve seen, no service handles these positions as they are excluded in the terms. This type of community is geared towards entry and mid level positions. Most users, like you, understand this. I’ll post on this and ensure such requests are removed from the thread. Thanks for the input!