I've had 1 line manager for 8 years now, the other person I would ask for a reference from is a peer and has recently left the business. Shuld I still use them? Or should I ask:
Somebody I worked for 9 years ago?
Somebody that I don't really have much to do with?
These are questions for the person asking for the references.
I thought about that too but didn't know if it was poor form to ask.
I gave details of my boss of 12 years, and a mate who has a fancy job title, as a personal reference.
But as above, ask.
These days you might as well just give details of the HR department - most organisations tell their staff to never give a personal reference and requests just get forwarded to HR anyway.
I suspect no one will take them up anyway, no one gives references for someone who will say 'yep, he's a complete tosser, don't touch with a bargepole', so you're only going to get a positive spin on that person.
IME / IMHO / AIUI,
A professional reference says "I confirm that this person worked here for this amount of time" and comes from HR. They are empowered to speak on behalf of your employer. This is usually what's expected.
A personal reference comes from whomever you want and says "yeah, he / she is great." They are not empowered to speak on behalf of your employer even if it's from a current work colleague or manager.
I'd try to provide one of each.
no one gives references for someone who will say ‘yep, he’s a complete tosser, don’t touch with a bargepole’
I don't believe that it's legal to give a bad reference. Rather they can simply decline to provide one.
I gave my old boss as a reference when I left my last job and he had left six months before I did. HR at my old place confirmed that I worked there when I said and he gave me a personal reference.
it worked.
Mind you, the boss I had when I left was the reason I was leaving, so I was never going to get anything from him.
I don’t believe that it’s legal to give a bad reference.
It's not technically ilegal from what I understand, but it does leave the company wide open to accusations of slander, tribunerals etc, so standard practice is simply to ignore the request for a reference, or simply state that they were employed as X beween Y and Z, regardless of whether you were a model employee or a bit of an annoyance.
