i can not be bothered to write you a ref?

[signal55]

I met my old boss this afternoon, who informed me that he'd recieved some reference requests from other employers, he told me that he could not be bothered to write them because he was to busy, i've already potentionaly lost one of thease jobs because of his waiting around. He then said can i write the ref and send it back to him because he had to much work to do.

I was quite angry though i failed to express this at the time, how do i stand legaly on this matter such as this?

any advice would be great.

xmossy

[murk]

Former employers are not legally required to provide references for former employees.

[holly]

He's a dick, but take him at his word. Write the reference yourself keeping it EXTREMELY short and to the point. Write it from HIS point of view. Give three sentences describing the business AS IF HE WROTE IT ABOUT HIMSELF (in otherwords the business is REALLY important and unique and valuable, etc. it serves this market and has been open and growing for this many years...).

Then write 2 sentences about yourself: the first says how long you worked there, the second says what jobs you did and any advancements and raises you got during that time. Say that you left to "pursue other opportunities".

That's it. No glowing praise, no "he was the greatest asset to the company and I cried to see him go..." None of that BS. All they want is written proof that you actually worked there and that you weren't fired. Ask him to please put it on company letterhead, sign it, and give you a copy.

[syzygy]

do what holly said. No point putting glowing praise in a reference - it won't be believed anyway.

employers only really bother looking at references to make sure prospective employees didn't do anything really naughty at their old jobs. The important thing is to have one and if that means writing it yourself then so be it - at least he's willing to sign it for you.

[signal55]

YEAH BUT I DIDINT GET FIRED I DID A GOOD JOB THERE, INFACT I WORKED MY FUCKING SOCKS OFF TO TRY AND MAKE SOMTHING OF THE PLACE, SO I FEEL A LITTLE EMBITTED THAT I HAVE TO WRITE MY OWN REF.

XMOSSY

[holly]

:rolleyes: get over it.

From his point of view he gave you a job and great money and gave you your start, and then you quit 'cause you thought you were too special for his magnanomous charity and now you've come crawling back expecting a favor.

It isn't uncommon to write your own references, write your own bio, write your own press release.... In fact it's pretty NORMAL.

Geez, what do you want, a JOB or to bitch-n-moan about what you are owed.... If you acted this way when you worked there, no wonder he doesn't give a fuk about you.

edited to add:
And when you get a new better job, you can buy us all a round of beers and tell us all about how hard you worked and how that business would have gone to shit without your expertise and guidance.
;) :cheers: :pint:

[signal55]

Fuck you holly, :) yeah i was fucked when i wrote that message last night, so it may have come across a bit arrogant, sorry about that.


xmossy

[PilotX]

afaik in the uk there is no obligation to write a reference .. the only thing I know for certain is that it's illegal to give a bad reference - the worst you are allowed to give is "X worked here between this date and that date"
in fact, when I was working in an agency we were told to stop giving references as one of our other branches was being sued for giving a good reference to another agency for someone who didn't work well for them (I don't know the outcome. I suspect it was thrown out of court) so I think that there is no legal obligation to give references, just common sense.

still he sounds like a tosser. too busy to spend 10 minutes writing a reference? diy mossy, you need it more than he does.

speak to ACAS (http://www.acas.org.uk/)
or CAB though as these are the people to help with employment disputes .. I might well be wrong in what I think - they (esp. acas) will know for sure

tom

[holly]

Originally posted by signal55
Fuck you holly, :)

;) :P

[Rovastar]

Think positive about it all.

You choose what to write and how glowing the reference is. In times goen by I would have loved to have known what references former employees were giving me.

You can craft the reference into something special tuned for the positions you haev applied for. Focusing more on the tech side of things or the artistic side of things for example.

You installed a detailed setup there so include all details of it from a management point of view. "He installed x,y,z with a,b,c and has left the venue with a very top of the range professioanl visual setup that other VJ's can easily connect up to."

"He also from time to time managed and co-ordinated internal staff and outside contractors to a professional standard"

"He had good timekeeping, was presentable, etc, etc,"

have some thoughts about what things you want in the reference to be it is an oppurtunity write your own future.

[littlecatalyst]

when a smiley is put after a fuck you does that make it cute? harmless? a come-on? does it make you seem better?
just curious......

also as an ex-employer i have had a bunch of employees ask for letters of refernce. some i gladly wrote but sometimes i thought 'oh jeez how can i write that he's a good worker and ignore the fact that he's also manic/ocd/adhd...." so sometimes (time constraints not withstanding) i have asked them to write it up and i will gladly sign it on leterhead. it's like holly says; totally normal to ask that that be done. and when they write it they leave out the primmadonna obsessive stuff which suits me fine, let the next cubicle guard figure it out heh heh

[charlielangridge]

Originally posted by PilotX
the worst you are allowed to give is "X worked here between this date and that date"

I dunno, it can be worse! I saw a reference for an employee at my old job that said

"Miss X worked here between X and X. She has a grasp of handwriting and is often punctual"

it kept us laughing all day ;)

[signal55]

GUYS! i've think i 've not explained myself properly, here goes,
i still do work for the old company when they need somthing doing video wise, for the last three weeks i've been trying to get a job just with shitty agencies, call centers ect just to augment my income but, to no avail as my boss as not been returning charicter refs for me, they don't need info about my skillz as a video artist, just that i'm puntual and reliable ect, the only reason i was complaining is because of this, i would have been more than happy to write my own ref if only my boss had bothered to contact me sooner than waiting for two weeks to tell me.
enough said, sorry to cause confusion:)

xmossy

p.swhen a smiley is put after a fuck you does that make it cute? harmless? a come-on? does it make you seem better?

dont know really didnt think about it that much did you?, was just trying to be light hearted

[holly]

Aw, just teasing mossy. We endulge in your misfortune. It's wrong and we know it. That's probably why we can't resist.

Please tell us what a fat fuk this guy is. I bet he's a mouth breather, too!
:kiss:

[0cuLa]

Originally posted by holly
:rolleyes: get over it.

From his point of view he gave you a job and great money and gave you your start, and then you quit 'cause you thought you were too special for his magnanomous charity and now you've come crawling back expecting a favor.



ahhh the sympathy of holly warms my heart :heart:

[turkish]

Manage your manager.

Never expect people to help you when its not going to benefit them. He/she has a hundred and one things they could be doing and helping you find a new job is not a high priority.

Write ur own reference as Ms Daggers suggested and stick it under their nose with the morning coffee. Don't leave it to them to sign as it'll just go in the mound of other paperwork - get them to do it in front of you.

The only way to make them comfortable enough to do this is to keep it short, straight to the point and 100% factual. Don't display emotion in and don't use language that he/she would not use themselves.

Try and wrap it up with "I would not hesitate to reemploy 'Fuckuboy' again." *** Unless of course you know this isnt true.....

G'luck

T.

Never guess I was a headhunter for 10 years now would ya.....