Using a former employer as a reference (1 Viewer)

[disorient]

I'm applying for jobs again after being unemployed for almost a year now..
I left my first and last job, which was a customer service position, because I wasnt getting along with the boss and some other staff members there...but now that im lookin for work again, i need proof that i do have customer service skills and experience...so i was wondering...should i use that evil woman of a boss as a reference or not?

has anyone else ever been in the same dilemma and used their former boss as a reference anyway? Cos i did hear somewhere that its illegal for former boss's to defame their former employees in anyway..... or is that jus crap?

 

[UnIqUe_PrInCeSs]

yeah, you should use her I guess.........

 

[noneother]

if you didn't get along with former managers they may not give u a favourable response. If you know any mates who are reliable and mature just use them as a reference citing them as some random manager at xyz store. That's what my friends do. Make sure to provide them with mobile phone number instead of store #.

 

[Skittled]

I left my first and last job, which was a customer service position, because I wasnt getting along with the boss and some other staff members there...

Don't provide references unless they ask for them; under the references section of your resume, put "References will be quickly provided upon request", or something along those lines. This is relatively common because you don't always want to tell your potentially current boss you're applying for a new job until the potential employer is genuinely interested in you.

From there, if/when they ask for them, have some personal references lined up (Many don't, but it appears to depend on the manager's background and what level of job you're going for. From an academic perspective, they shouldn't ask for them, as references have an incredibly low reliability and are 90% useless -- for the reaons NoneOther points out ). Ideally you'd get in contact with people at your old job you did get along with, or the old manager (can you contact head office re that? -- did they leave the company, or simply transfer?). Otherwise, if you're pushing it, personal references all the way - family friends, sports coach, etc.

Cos i did hear somewhere that its illegal for former boss's to defame their former employees in anyway..... or is that jus crap?

Don't know the specifics, but yes, its illegal. However, if she's got an impression she can back up, and tries to objectively express that (ie not an opinion, but observations with evidence), it's not. Theoretically she should say she'd "prefer not to comment", or some such. So yes, it's illegal; whether, in practice that stops her from doing it, or whether you've got the means to chase it up when she does badmouth you, is another matter.