I’ve written about this before, but apparently it needs repeating: Don’t ever pay for job references. In fact, please don’t falsify them in any way.
Take a look at this Craigslist ad I stumbled across yesterday:
I think it’s pretty clear this individual is not qualified for an administrative assistant position based on the typos and grammar of the ad. What is apparent, however, is the individual is desperate — and I bet there are other desperate individuals out there who’ve responded to the ad.
I understand feeling desperate when you don’t have a job — and haven’t had one for quite some time. My mother and I don’t see eye-to-eye on, well, most things, but one thing I can say to you with confidence is that she’s a damn good teacher. She taught high school chemistry and math for 30 years at the same school — four years away from retirement — only to be laid off on December 24, 2007. And she hasn’t had as much as an interview since.
Think she’s desperate? We don’t talk about it much, but I can only imagine that she must be. But do you know what would set her apart in interviews? She doesn’t let them see her sweat.
The individual who wrote the Craigslist ad is sweating big time. Job references are not going to save him/her — hiring managers can smell desperation from a mile away. So don’t pay for them. Don’t fake them. It will eventually come back to haunt you, and you’ll find yourself unemployed once again.
Who are your references and why did you choose them? Have you ever had an issue with the references you provided?
