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.
There are people out there who genuinely try to help others out with providing a reference - probably something that gets discussed outside of a general post like this (saw something similar mentioned on Reddit or maybe it was twitter years ago?), however there are also those who seem to take either take a payment for it or provide a half-assed reference.
I had an experience with requesting a reference for a hire we needed to urgently get onboard. Took it upon myself to keep chasing them for response (HR was useless in the company). And despite being seemingly provided three different people to contact (different names, numbers in different parts of country), this clown had one and the same person giving a very simple repetitive answer. Now you can expect references to sound similar, but if you're not gonna bother changing your voice (or asking different people to provide ref) at least make sure not to use the exact same uncommon phrase like an idiot.
I myself provided a reference to former colleagues before, written being easier as you get to think about what you want to say. Over the phone being but of a PITA, especially if they have specific questions and you don't necessarily have a good answer.
Regarding your points, you're correct in pointing out communities like this have existed on Reddit, X, other social media platforms, and services on the web for a while. I also agree that everyone must be very skeptical when connecting. Any normal person should be thinking, "Is it a good idea to get a ref from the internet?" I certainly did. In all my cases using these communities, I spoke with the people I ended up using via chat, VoIP, and exchanged info after feeling confident. I had some ghosting, but the peeps I did talk with, it quickly became obvious they were solid IT, after which we'd declare what we needed and exchange info. The last person I helped was a woman with a 4-year gap and was in IT data entry. She posted she wasn't getting any calls because of the gap. I reached out and we came up with a way to resolve that. However, I'm very aware my positive experiences are tiny compared to all the activity that has taken place in all the communities. It must be assumed people have had bad experiences. I also assume that since these communities have existed for quite some time, with much positive feedback from many, the good outweighs the bad. I'll do my best to monitor for suspicious activity in this community and act accordingly. Thx for the post, take care!