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Are Your References Reliable?

January 23, 2012, 2:31 pm

By Allison M. Vaillancourt

Last year, one of my colleagues was notified by her employer that her services would no longer be required. The story, as she told it, was that she was asked to “turn around” an underperforming division, but institutional leaders didn’t really appreciate that turnarounds can cause some pain and later changed their minds. In the end, she said she and her institution parted ways amiably and the person to whom she reported even agreed to serve as a future reference.

Seven months after receiving the bad news, my colleague was still unemployed, but she was not idle. In fact, she was exhausted by almost weekly flights hither and thither to interview at colleges, universities, hospitals, and consulting firms all over the country. In search after search she was one of two or three finalists. A finalist, yes. The finalist, no. She was stumped about her lack of progress. “I know I have the credentials, and I definitely clicked with the search committee,” she reported repeatedly. “This makes no sense.”

After watching her grow ever more confused and despondent, a few of us put our heads together to try to figure out why she wasn’t making better headway. It couldn’t have been her CV, which was solid. She wasn’t choking during the interviews or she would not have advanced to the finalist stage. Suddenly a light bulb went on. It must be the references!

“Who exactly is on your reference list?,” a member of the brain trust inquired. Our colleague ticked off the names of people who knew her work well and would say positive things about her, including, she thought, the man who told her it was time for her to leave but offered to serve as a reference. We suggested she delete him from the list and then — shazam! — she was offered a new job almost immediately. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Have you ever been burned by a reference? Is it ethical to offer to serve as a reference if you know your comments will not be helpful? Have you ever agreed to serve as a reference when you really should not have done so?

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  • mbelvadi

    ‘Does this mean that “college readiness” in math no longer requires “proficiency?”’ Is it possible that that ACT benchmark is looking only at the portion of seniors planning to go to college (and taking the ACT to do so) whereas NAEP looks at ALL seniors?  That would account for the 25%/45% difference. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Nuckolls/100001571701477 Bob Nuckolls

    This article hat-dances around a fundamental flaw in the US educational “system”. Teachers cannot pass along skills that they do not possess. I’ve been observing and grieving over the levels of incompetence demonstrated by far too many graduates with teaching degrees who sally forth with policies, processes and procedures and precious little understanding of the disciplines they will be charged to teach.

    The alphabet soup of institutions mentioned in the article are long on describing “the problem” but do not demonstrate understanding. To illustrate:

    “Congress would pass and the President sign a bill declaring that in
    2020, nine years from now, no student who scores less than “proficient”
    on the mathematics portion of the National Assessment of Education
    Progress will be eligible for a federal student grant or loan.”

    Yeah, right. So now we “graduate” from the era of No Child Left Behind to the era of Credit Scores for  Proficiency. Make it a law an yea verily, it shall be so. The problem as I see it is a complete collapse of the honorable free-market exchange of value between merchants (teachers) and consumers (parents). Individuals with high sounding titles and salary/benefit packages to match sit in offices thousands of miles away and dictate the terms of trade between teachers who cannot be deprived of payment for an inferior product that a parent would not chose to purchase. That’s like having a surgeon carve on your body by taking instructions over the phone or from a stack of PowerPoint slides.

    Any time you read “the President should do this” or “the Congress should do that” . . . all kinds of red flags should go up. The Constitution did not charter any institution of government to tell any honorable citizen to do anything. The root cause of the problem with education is that all branches of government have been doing too much for too long and the self-correcting features of an honorable free-market exchange of value have collapsed. There are consumer protection laws that presume to remedy the sale of a defective automobile or an unsafe building. Who do we complain to for generations of ignorant graduates?

    We have suffered generations of non-teachers producing more non-teachers working in bureaucratic straight-jackets. Instead of sharing their vision of the simple ideas in physics, math, and chemistry to willing students, our public schools have become government financed child care facilities. A search of the news reveals much ado about the need for bricks, mortar, higher salaries, more benefits, and testing  . . . but not “too hard”. You seldom see a news story about an English teacher who cannot spell, a math teacher who has not mastered the multiplication tables, or a physics teacher who cannot demonstrate the calculations that describe phenomenon and imparts understanding. But they’re out there . . . I’ve met them.

    To make maters worse, today’s  parents, the consumers, are products of the same decaying system. They are increasingly incapable of knowing how badly their children are being intellectually abused at the hands of their government. Sorry Mr. Wood . . . but you’re describing the tip of an iceberg . . . bureaucrats crawling all over it and chipping away with their little ice hammers. The real problem is 10 times larger and remains submerged, out of sight, and summarily ignored.

  • quasihumanist

    The point of federal K-12 education policy is to train people to be grunts in the Army, which needs privates smart enough to follow complex orders but not smart enough to question them.

  • peterwwood

    The New York Times op ed page today offers a different solution.  In “How to Fix Our Math Education,” Sol Garfunkel, executive director of the Consortium for Mathematics an Its Applications and David Mumford, professor of mathematics at Brown, argue pretty much in favor of throwing in the towel.  Expect Americans to learn algebra?  Why bother when “most adults” seldom “need to solve a quadratic equation.”  instead of the traditional high school math curriculum, they propose a sequence of “finance, data and basic engineering,” where students would learn to read spreadsheets and “study the budgets of people, companies and governments.”  For Garfinkle and Mumford, everyday utility ought to trump mathematics as an integrated body of knowledge.  

    Everyday utility, of course, is a good thing, but making it the primary end of a high school mathematical education would put us even more firmly on the path to quantitative illiteracy.  I take Garfinkle and Mumford’s argument at face value, but it is interesting to consider it in light of the NRC framework, as further evidence that the nation’s scientific and mathematical elite is essentially abandoning the idea that young Americans as a whole can and ought to attain proficiency in math. 

    Peter Wood

  • cwinton

    I have to concur with the author’s pessimism.  The irony is that the effect of imposing “standards” and standardized testing has been a race to the bottom.  As a child back in the 50′s I distinctly recall the huge concern over acceding to demands for federal aid to education, precisely because those prescient enough understood it would inevitably lead to strings (make that ham strings) which would lead to a vanilla and largely mediocre prescription of curricular content.   I suspect few of them envisioned just how much of a decline would occur, where slogans like NCLB and Race to the Top have come to represent the opposite of what they purport to say.  My own experience has certainly borne that out, since over many years I encountered a disturbing decrease in the number of students with a developed ability to solve problems, to whatever extent they might otherwise appreciate or discern a correct solution (at best questionable, since there was no understanding of underlying principles).  The kind of straight jacket, teach to the test nonsense now characterizing K-12 education has done a wonderful job of suppressing children’s abilities to develop creative talents, and solving problems is a creative talent.  Solving problems is also the means for gaining an understanding of underlying principles, something standardized testing does not encourage.  The time for developing these kinds of abilities is in childhood, so once adulthood is reached, the opportunity is lost.  It does not bode well for our future, particularly when one considers that those replacing the current cadre of teachers have largely come through the the system as it has evolved.

  • 11129150

    Interesting thought experiment.  But add this to the mix:  how long would it take before there was pressure to, shall we say, relax the standards of the NAEP?

  • _perplexed_

    Mastery of the secondary school curriculum is ultimately the responsibility of students, with parents having the primary oversight role.  It is time to stop blaming schools.  They will function just fine if students demand it, in the classroom, every day; and if parents accept responsibility instead of trying to palm it off on teachers.  I doubt that many classrooms are so bad that a committed student can’t extract a good education there.  Making government subsidies of students’ higher education contingent upon mastery of secondary school curricula places the pressure precisely where it belongs.

  • 5768

    I certainly agree that everyday utility is not the perspective from which alone we must educate unless we are bent on divorcing students from the depth of knowledge in our libraries and the historical past of that knowledge. And are ready to inefficiently rediscover the wheel rather than build on that past.

    I would maintain that the very problem and a clue to the solution is revealed in your statement “…is essentially abandoning the idea that young Americans as a whole can and ought to attain proficiency in math.”  The expectation IS the driver. To cede on that expectation at the top is synonymous with the erosion of confidence and faith by student learners that what they are “supposed” to learn has any value. Too many have already given up. Ergo, the crisis we face today.

    Creative solutions are not an answer to a crisis in faith in systemic expectations. Lose systemic expectations and anything goes. That is a messy proposition which does not auger well for the faith in the system education requires.

  • walkingtree

    One reference insisted on writing a letter for me, but had a reputation for being the most vicious referee. I got one letter and it didn’t work anywhere. After a few risks, I dropped her permanently. I am curious what is in the letter still. I know she can be evil, but how evil is my question. 

  • yellow1

    GREAT questions. Sadly, I have agreed to be a reference at least twice when I should not have agreed. Both times, the potential employer had very specific questions about the employees’ work habits (one on the phone/one on a form) that forced me out of honesty not to give the nicest reviews. It’s one thing to give general impressions or a recommendation letter, but it seems more and more employers want some set forms.

    I have decided since I will only write a letter of recommendation for a colleague or student if that recommendation can be positive. Same goes for reference. Otherwise, I say, “No, sorry,” to the person when asked. I think this is only fair. I give explanations for the ones I have to tell no too as well. Seems only fair. It’s been tough at times, but I don’t want to be in the situation where my input clearly isn’t helpful.

  • wilkenslibrary

    One caveat:  I have learned that sometimes glowing recommendations reflect the reference writer’s  desire for the candidate to go elsewhere. 
    Betsy Smith/Adjunct Professor of ESL/Cape Cod Community College

  • rlsteiner

    While I’m in the earlier stages of my career and not the latter as it seems the person above is, this same situation has happened to me over and over again over the last year or so. My question is, when do references really come into play? I’ve been to final interviews and knew I was one of the last two or three, but didn’t hear back…are they checking all candidates’ references after the final interview? Or do they only check references for “the final” candidate? I guess my naivete makes me believe that one reference can’t really do that much harm if you’re confirmed as the right person for the job – but maybe my experience would demonstrate otherwise.

  • walkingtree

    I am curious, too. I want them to check it before inviting me to interview. I have a problem referee and I’d rather have custom clearance for him/her than getting slapped in the back afterwards. 

  • wagamama

    I would never knowingly agree to serve as a reference for someone to whom I could not give an unequivocally positive recommendation. That being said, a tenacious and perceptive questioner can draw a lot of information out in a phone call.

    Back when I was searching for that elusive first position, I had my materials (all hard copies, then, of course) sent to a colleague who already had a position, who then sent them to me. I looked at my references–they were all fine, in fact glowing. As always, it pays not to jump to conclusions.

  • davidbinder

    Having been the “hiring official” at times, our practice was that references for all finalists were checked.  There is an implicit assumption that a candidate would not knowingly provide a reference that would not be positive.  Therefore, one reference can be a killer if it raises questions to the interviewing committee or the hiring official.  It can also cut the other way.  There have been a few situations in which a very positive recommendation from the right person moved a person up the list. 

    Being the “right person” can go beyond what is in a CV.  At the finalist stage it is likely that all the candidates are “qualified.”  Often it is the background that makes the difference.  For some positions or institutions, soft skills can separate who among the finalists is offered the position.  It is somewhat axiomatic that when there are 3 finalists and 1 position there will be 1 happy person and 2 puzzled why they did not get the offer. 

  • 7738373863

    Years ago, the director of the  MFA program I was in agreed to write for me.  While virtually every colleague who applied for a teaching job was getting interviews or a job outright, I got nary a nibble.  I went to the placement office to troubleshoot and found out that the program director’s letter was the problem.  The good news is that I went on straightaway for my doctorate and have had a long and generally satisfying academic career.  I still hope to run into the person who tried to ruin my career and ask him why he did so base a thing to me.  I’m sure that the explanation, if he has one, will be rich.

  • rdittben

    According to several higher education executive search firm recruiters with whom I have spoken in recent years, this situation is far from isolated.  As one of these recruiters pointed out to me, “One is rarely seeking a job to escape from the organization, but from their boss.” It is good to have an excellent reputation known by others, have letters from people of significant credibility attesting to your professional excellence, and be in a position to discuss any concerns you have about your current employer’s willingness to give you an excellent (as distinct from a “good”) recommendation.  Another tip, is to cultivate those who know the person you want to work for next so that you are in a position to be seen positively, regardless of how your current boss sees you- or at least, have credible countervailing comments lodged in your favor. 

  • frayedcat

    On most University library searches I have been a part of, we call references as a way to decide whom to bring to campus.   When I was looking for jobs, that seemed to be the norm also.  

  • frayedcat

    On most University library searches I have been a part of, we call references as a way to decide whom to bring to campus.   When I was looking for jobs, that seemed to be the norm also.  

  • raymond_j_ritchie

    Never use any referee who will not show you their reference.
    Falure to inform you that they have been sent a reference request is also a bad sign.
    One thing to be very careful about is generational differences.  Someone who got their permanent job 30 or more years ago may have very little idea of what is required in a reference today.  They may give you a reference that would have got you a job when they got theirs but is not suitable today. For example, there was a time when being an independent and an original thinker was a virtue.  In todays world of goals, outcomes and team players having a mind of your own is not considered helpful.
    There are cultural dfferences.  A British or Australian academic will give a reference that may not be what is expected by an american institution.
    In some ways I am surprised by this article.  My impression today is that comments on hard copy seem to be avoided. Phonecalls leave no legal trail.

  • pflady

    When I was first starting in my academic career, some of my references had me write my own letters, then they would read and sign them.  As someone who had been brought up to be modest and to avoid self-promotion, this was an extremely difficult task, and I am sure that I was my own toughest critic.  Somehow, I did get that first academic position and moved up the academic ladder.

  • jsibelius

    On many hiring committees where I’ve served, we either check references for THE finalist – to make sure there are no red flags before making an offer – or we check references for all candidates following in-person interviews, in which case we’re looking for that “outstanding quality” that may differentiate two or more similar candidates.  I’ve never been on a committee that checked references before the personal interview stage because it is another (time consuming) type of interview.  It’s also not often we’ve run into a reference who hesitates or has anything negative to say about a job candidate.  If you have a questionable reference on your list, I agree with the advice here – cut him or her from your reference list.

  • jsibelius

    Don’t bet the farm on phone calls with no legal trails.  Witness testimony counts for an awful lot in court and in a civil suit, there is a lower standard of evidence required to win a case.

  • yellow1

    Same situation. We want to trust our process, so the references always wait for “THE” candidate. It’s the final hurdle. I would second the idea that any candidate needs those references to be rock solid.

  • 11161452

    I would not write a reference that would not be positive. Often, students asked me for reference letters, but I didn’t know them very well; if they persisted even when I pointed this out and suggested they get someone else, I’d tell them that I can only address their candidacy on a limited basis, and the letter would reflect that. 

    I have not to my knowledge been “burned” by a reference, but I worry about it. It so happens that the person best qualified to assess many of my professional skills is my former supervisor, with whom, alas, I had a relationship (I know–workplace romance = bad idea). He has nothing negative to say about my work performance, but I fear in a telephone reference call he might allow negativity to creep in, in subtle ways, as a result of our acrimonious split. The reference is over 10 years old anyway, which for many employers relegates it to the circular file. I am former faculty looking to get into university staff work, so I am making a fresh start all around…but at some point one does need referees who can directly address work skills (something more than just a personal reference). I am actually considering starting over completely by doing volunteer work on my local campus, building new references from the ground up.

    I would welcome advice in this matter, particularly from the university human resource administrators out there…

  • raymond_j_ritchie

    What you say is legally correct but the reality is that very few people would write anything remotely negative in a referee’s report simply because there is no such thing as confidentiality today. A more insidious problem is people refusing to write a referee’s report which creates gaps in your employment record.   You are unlikely to ever find out why you did not get a job and although it is illegal search committee members often act on informal information and do not admit to what they know about a candidate.  In most cases in academia you are a member of a very small group of people and are a known quantity.

  • jsibelius

    I completely agree with you about no such thing as confidentiality.  And also that you’re unlikely to find out the real reason you didn’t get a job.  But I don’t think it’s illegal for search committee members to act on informal information unless it’s information about race, religion, disability, etc., in other words, the protected classes.  If they decide not to hire you over your political beliefs or a spat with a colleague, it may be unethical and almost certainly against official policy, but it isn’t illegal in most jurisdictions.

  • a_vaillancourt

    11161452: Volunteering on campus to establish a good reputation and network of people who will speak well of you is a strategic idea. Let me just urge caution about choosing your volunteer assignment. Try to find a role that is perceived to have status similar to or higher than the employment positions you might be seeking. I hate that life is so complicated, but people form mental images that are not easily modified. If you want run a program, don’t volunteer to shelve library books. Instead, offer to organize an event. You probably know this already.  Feel free to email me if you want to brainstorm.

  • 11161452

    You make a great point, and I have already personally experienced the faculty version of the phenomenon you describe. I began a teaching career at a small liberal arts college, and when I wanted to move on to a larger university setting, it was post-tenure, and I was forever labeled a “small college person” as far as my profession was concerned. I was at that point not interested in a lateral move to a similar type of school, so I was not able to find a job. Even years later, when chosen as a finalist for an advising position at a large state university, I lost the job because a hiring dean said I just exuded “small college”, whatever that meant. 

    So one always should be looking ahead, professionally speaking. Thank you for your remarks, and sorry for temporarily sidetracking the discussion.   

  • laurae5

    Great questions, especially that you brought up the idea of ethics. This is just one case study where  the power that some references possess is underscored and sadly, this power can really hurt someone when wielded so carelessly, or in some cases, purposefully to hurt the applicant.  What if the reference feels compelled or responsible to ensure someone who is not a good hire is not given a positive reference? I had a similar experience with a colleague who was called as a reference for someone who had questionable conduct in a previous position.  Constructing this in the power/ethical debate is an interesting framework -check out Mumby’s (2011) bit on reframing power and ethics and communication in Handbook of Communication Ethics and the “everyday practice” of ethics, even in something seemingly insignificant as acting as a reference.
    Laura Lemmermann

  • klpitts

    A professional said it best: “If you believe that your recommendation person is not giving you a good review, have a friend call from work and ask the recommendation person about you” Same with a letter.  It will let you know what is going on.

  • singfasola

    I’ve decided that I will only consider giving a recommendation if I can see the position description. This gives me the opportunity to decide whether my recommendation would be positive.  This came after a difficult exchange with a long-time colleague who had very positive and equally negative attributes and was insistent on a recommendation from me.  After I stood my ground on seeing the position description I was able to look him in the eye and say “Look, this is what they say they want. You know this is your big trouble spot. How could I possibly give you a positive recommendation?” No subsequent request has given me that level of angst, and asking for a position description has made me more comfortable with the whole process.  Except last year, when an old friend gave my name, the employer-to-be called me, and I had to lie and say “I’m sorry, I no longer give recommendations for anyone.” Then I called her and said “You  blew it!”  We have become friends again, happily.

  • minnesotan

    Writing a negative reference is a loathsome thing to do. If you don’t like or respect the person, don’t write the letter! In the business world, there have been many successful lawsuits on the basis of bad references — so much so that many corporations now forbid management from sharing evaluations of an ex-employee’s work habits. I hate to say it, but academia might need a few more lawsuits to scare the dishonesty out of the jerks who agree to praise you, only to ambush you in secret. The scum!

  • mnogojazyk

    I agree! My ex-boss volunteered to be a reference of mine but from it was clear from her behavior towards me that she wanted me gone — the sooner the better! Needless to say, I didn’t take up her offer.

  • ptless

    My policy is that when asked ofr a reference, I have a meeting with teh person (student, colleague, whatever) in whcih I explain what I woudl say if I do write trhe reference. If there are misunderstandings, we can address them then. At the end, I ask them if they would like me to write the reference or if they would prefer to ask someone else.

    This has allowed me to give some students, for example, a good wake up call as to how they are perceived. It allows me to be honest and my references actually mean something (at least to me).
    I am baffled that anyone whould write a negative refrerence without letting the individual realize it.

  • minnesotan

    I wish I received such specific praise on my blog.

  • a_vaillancourt

    Minnesotan: You made me laugh! I flagged sunsetsoon’s shameless ad post for removal yesterday, but it’s still there.Well, if you need a locksmith, you’ve got some good links.

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