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I think it's pure genius but seriously unethical but who cares. One of my duties during a previous job was hiring and I'll tell you that I've seen some real scams and most were obvious. I had one guy use his cell number as his "former boss". When I called from the office phone I got "hello **** tech" but when I called back a day later from my cell (following up from home) he answered with hello this is Jim when I was expecting a company voice mail. All I could say was busted.
I'm glad you pulled it off as it shows you were thinking outside the box. It also shows you are devious but as long as you're using your skills for good I don't see the harm.
As for the guy that posts that he asks 30 mins of questions. Couple of things. First, I as a manager do not have a half an hour to talk to you and you would be lucky to get 5 to 7 mins of my time.
Second, In today's sue happy world we are not allowed to say anything negative that could prevent another person from getting a job so trust me when I say that everything we choose to say has been carefully considered.
Hats off to you for getting the job. It's unethical but you're working so more power to you. You took a chance and it worked. Most people just sit on their couch and complain that work won't come to them.
What puzzles me more is why the employers will look at a candidate with no references a total failure and deny them the position if they can contact the previous employers for verifiable employment dates and other verifiable information.
To the OP, cudos for doing this to get a level playing field. While I couldn't do it personally it's great it worked for you. As you mentioned the "honest" way just doesn't work. If the employers didn't depend so much on the references, one doesn't have to go through these measures and still have a great employee.
It is amazing how twisted dishonest people's thinking is to justify what they know to be wrong behavior.
It is amazing how twisted dishonest people's thinking is to justify what they know to be wrong behavior.
While I'm a person with high morals and I'm sure the OP is a very honest person as well, although I can't speak for him/her. What would you have suggested in this particular situation? Employers see no references, the result no job. What's more twisted and narrow minded is employers not consdiering a qualified candidate without any references and quckly making a judgement on the individual as not being qualified. When in fact, that individual would be more qualified then the person they hire with references.
With how picky employeers are these days, I don't blame you one bit.
Also, all the recruiters, HR, and interview people, employeers play games too. They also lie. This has been my experience. So, I see nothing wrong with it if that is what you have to do to get a job in this day and age.
When I called from the office phone I got "hello **** tech" but when I called back a day later from my cell (following up from home) he answered with hello this is Jim when I was expecting a company voice mail. All I could say was busted.
It seems like a pretty scumbag thing to do, in my opinion. You know, that whole 'morality' thing?
I kinda agree, but at the same time, what if someone has been looking for more than a year and can't get a job due to some ex-boss saying negative things about him and he and his family is about to become homeless. I would say it's his moral imperative to get a job by any means necessary.
I wouldn't do this myself, but it's easy for me to say this as a single person who could live with family if it came down to it.
Not that I advocate this but I recall my 9 months of unemployment and how desperate I got for an offer and how terrified I was of my UI benefits running out. I would have only dreamed of doing this.
While I'm a person with high morals and I'm sure the OP is a very honest person as well, although I can't speak for him/her. What would you have suggested in this particular situation? Employers see no references, the result no job. What's more twisted and narrow minded is employers not consdiering a qualified candidate without any references and quckly making a judgement on the individual as not being qualified. When in fact, that individual would be more qualified then the person they hire with references.
Volunteer on the side and use that as your reference. Manage your boss so that you DO get a good reference.
I guess its a good move for people who have no references (and there is usually a reason that they do not...none of which are usually positive).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rift
You spend 30 minutes with each reference? What in the world do you ask them or talk about? Mostly, as far as I know, all you can ask is:
Dates of employment
Job Title
Wages/Salary
Maybe you can ask would your rehire this person?
What else do you talk about? 30 mintues per reference? You have to be kidding me. Most references would not want and/or have the time to talk to you that long. 30 minutes?
You are confusing verification of employment with references. A reference is someone who will answer a lot more questions about performance, work-habits, etc. Whenever I serve as a reference for someone, the conversations are generally about 15-20 minutes.
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