Is Your Former Boss Badmouthing You to Potential Employers?
February 20, 2012 
34 Comments
In this competitive job market, everything in your job-seeking arsenal must be spot-on: resume, cover letter, even your interview attire. And you’ve probably made sure all of those are top-notch, but there is one thing over which you have little control—and the scary part is, it can kill your chances of landing a job. We’re talking about references.
You’ve probably hand-picked most of your references, so presumably you’ve lined up people who will rave about you. But most likely, a potential employer will want to contact your current or most recent employer. Even if you don’t specifically include your old employer on your list of references, a hiring manager may contact them anyway. So what should you do if you’re nervous about what your former employer might say? Some tips:
Consider your former company’s reference policy. Does your former employer have a policy regarding what information about past employees can be divulged? And if so, do they really follow it? As this article explains, many companies don’t actually adhere to these policies, especially since they may have inexperienced or understaffed HR departments.
Do a test run. The only way to know for certain what your former boss is saying about you is to have someone find out. Enlist a friend to pose as a potential employer and call your former company to check your reference.
Cut it off at the pass. If you suspect (or confirm) your old boss is bad-mouthing you, it would probably be wise for you to address this up front with potential employers. The key here is to be diplomatic. You want to explain that you and your old boss had conflicts, but don’t want to come across like you’re trashing them.
Make them disappear. This usually isn’t a practical strategy, but if things were really bad at your previous company and you didn’t work there very long (or you don’t have enough other bright spots on your resume to compensate for a less than stellar reference), you may want to consider leaving the job with the boss who’s panning you off your resume completely.
Ever suspected a former boss of giving you a bad reference? How did you handle it? Let us know in the comments.
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Interesting aproach.
Jorge Purgly recently posted..Conheca a melhor coxinha do carnaval 2012
I’m now really glad I only worked in the public sector – all references contained only length of service, grade, salary etc. Nothing else!
Laura Sykes recently posted..Should Anglicans Be Grapes Or Marbles?
Does it make sense to value an employer that badmouths his former employees more, than an employee that badmouths his former employer?
Thanks for sharing. Interesting approach for dealing with former bosses.
Nicolas Liu recently posted..Three Plays – What I Learned through Social Networks
Great article. Thanks Bob.
Teresa de Grosbois recently posted..Sneak Peek: Blogging Your Book
Bob, aloha. Though happily I have worked for myself for many decades, what terrific advice you are giving folks in the job market. The idea of having a friend check to find out what is being said has a great deal of appeal to me.
Actually, I thought former employers had to be careful what they said about former employees because of possible repercussions. Maybe that is more a plicy in Hawaii rather than elsewhere.
Best wishes for a terrific week ahead. Aloha. Janet
Janet Callaway recently posted..13 Reasons to See Clearly
..BUT who is telling the truth? Was the employer a slave-driver from hell or was the employee a lazy slacker?
The role of the interviewer is to ascertain the truth. Not always easy!
Steve Hall recently posted..Menorca
Thanks Steve
That is really a good question, Steve. Both could be telling “the truth” from their perspective without taking any mitigating circumstances into consideration.
Your stuff is fantastic, Bob. Reputation management is a biggie.
Shawne Duperon recently posted..TV Body Position
My husband told me all it takes is just one question. Would you hire this person again? Most experience boss’s or recruiters are going to know what a NO answer means.
I listened to a former boss of mine tell an interviewer, Yes he would hire the person again. I was baffled. He said the guy had to feed his family so he was not going to sabotage his job opportunities. My boss had hired a friend of his. In the end, my boss fired a friend of his.
I one had a boss who was a bad mouthing tosser, and as a result morale in the office was very low. It was a ghastly work environment.
Interesting points, which leads me to wonder how useful references are to employers.
Interesting points, which lead me to wonder how useful references are to employers.
I’ve begun asking my students to write up a brief overview to send to their former employers covering areas that they would like mentioned. So far it seems to work well. Evidently, if you do most of the work for them former bosses will follow through as you’d like them to.
I’ve been unemployed for three years. Yet previously been employed through various contracts for 20 years.
Not been able to understand why I’ve not been able to land a job.
I’ve just been offered a job, but have to supply 2 references. My potential new employer cannot understand why I’ve been unemployed for so long!
I contacted my previous employer who I work for 8 years, and asked him if he could supply me with a written reference which I could forward to the agency.
He wanted to know if I’ve already been offered the job and inquired about “don’t they have to contact me?”
Anyway after agreeing to supply me with a reference, it still hasn’t arrived.
Bob, great article, usual. And Joe (just above), supplying a former boss with what you’re looking for is a great suggestion. I might have to use that myself!
Kim Clune recently posted..Porcupine Situation Gets Sticky
I think the “test run” is a great idea if you suspect a former employer is saying something that would jeopardize an opportunity.
Great article. Thanks.
My first boss tried to sabotage my chances to be admitted in a program to train future judges. I was completely shocked because he never told me so and I had to find out in the last interview. They payed no attention to it because my then boss was an ambassador they knew but I had trouble focusing on the tests because of the shock. Later on in life when I was not sure about a current supervisors possible remarks I gave the recruiters the telephone number of some boss that left or of a co-worker. Worked fine.
wytzia raspe recently posted..‘immigratiecijfers bewust hoog’
Doing a test run is a good idea…I have a friend that is terrified about a new employer contacting the old one. She was with a company for 7 years and the new GM treated her like an ex-wife almost from the day he started. I will pass on this advise!
Thanks Jason. Let us know how the test run goes!
I did use a friend to check a suspicious former manager, and sure enough, he trashed me to my “potential employer”. I immediately emailed said manager’s boss, whom I had had a good working relationship with. Aside from what the manager said being untrue, he had spoken against company policy of only sharing time of service and salary info, as well as being so uninformed as to not know that there are legal ramifications to giving negative, opinionated reviews.
I like the suggestion about doing a Test Run. However, the part about “Making them Disappear” I am having trouble digesting.
At first when I read the heading the phrase “Make them an offer they can’t refuse.” or “Let them swim with the fishes.” came to mind.
I would not remove them from my resume. In the interview I would attempt to bring it up tactfully and without bad mouthing my former employer, possibly a hard line to walk.
Gary Gile recently posted..Power
Very interesting topic..This kind of boss is not really good I’ve been experience this before..
Natalie recently posted..Xenadrine rzr-x
Could be but I am not really sure.
Louie Baur recently posted..Red Tracton’s Steakhouse Del Mar
This article points out all the reasons it is so important to exit in a way that builds your network. Check out what I wrote yesterday on this subject, here: http://resumebits.blogspot.com/2012/02/building-your-brand-while-youre-leaving.html
Karen recently posted..Building Your Brand While You’re Leaving Your Job
Id Like to add if your old boss is bad mouthing you for whatever reason, but you had great relashionship with other coworkers… Add them to you list on your resume and be up front in your interview about the conflict. Let them know they can contact your old coworkers who can vouch for you and your work ethics.
thanks
I worked for a company that did not allow this type of behavior. In fact the company would only tell anybody for any reason who inquires about an employee that he or she is or was an employee.
Obviously you never want to burn your bridges at any company you work for; but ocassionally friction occurs and bad feelings may arise when you leave. Tina’s advice is excellent… Use a different senior manager at the company who you have a great relationship with as your point of contact and reference. Obviously you should let them know that you are listing them as a reference and why.
David Burke recently posted..Rules for Fools