Letters of Recommendation vs. References
by Paul W. Barada
Monster Salary and Negotiation Expert
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Since starting a reference-checking firm more than 20 years ago, we've added lots of people as the demand for our services has increased. On more than one occasion, candidates have proudly offered glowing letters from previous employers extolling their skill, talent, dedication, loyalty, accomplishments and unique ability to walk on water. As far as I'm concerned, a reference letter only makes sense if you're applying for admission to graduate or professional school.
Lately, a surprising number of inquiries have been appearing on the message boards about reference letters, a term I use synonymously with letters of recommendation. Apparently, there is some confusion about the difference between a letter of reference and providing the names of references for prospective employers to call.
Some job seekers think providing a reference letter is what they're supposed to be doing, as opposed to asking coworkers to serve as references for them. A letter of reference, depending on the type of information it contains, might be up a rung or two on the job search ladder compared to a personal reference, but they're both pretty close to the bottom rung.
Reference letters are a total waste of time, not to mention a waste of ink and paper, in the employee selection process. Why? How do you ask a piece of paper a follow-up question? Silly as that sounds, suppose you're the prospective employer and you've been given a reference letter that says the candidate "successfully completed every task assigned to him." How do you ask about the types of tasks, how many and how complicated? You can't. The tasks could have been organizing paper clips.
Another problem we've seen with reference letters is verifying their authenticity. For all you know, the candidate wrote the letter on company letterhead and faked the signature, taking the chance the prospective employer wouldn't check. On the other hand, I'll bet more than one of you has been asked to write a reference letter for someone hoping to make a career change. How many of you have said, "Tell me what you want in the letter" or "Write something, and I'll sign it." How valuable are those letters to a prospective employer?
The other type of reference document, less often used but still out there, is the form mailed by the prospective employer asking the recipient to rate the candidate on some silly scale, such as, "How would you rate so-and-so's ability to take direction? Good. Fair. Poor. (circle one)." Or, "On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest), rate so-and-so's interpersonal skills." Assuming the prospective employer gets the reference form back at all, what does a seven mean? If five is average, is seven somewhat above average or is it significantly above average? What did the author mean? How can you possibly find that out?
A letter of reference from a previous employer or a fill-in-the-blank document going the other way are both one-way communications that can, at best, only be taken at face value and on faith. Neither supplies even close to enough information upon which to base an informed employment decision.
Ultimately, reference checking involves a dialogue between the references and the prospective employer or its agents. There are so many unknowns inherent in all forms of nonverbal evaluation, that mailing a form to references or receiving letters of reference are relatively useless methods for determining whether or not a candidate is right for the job being filled. They represent moments in time. Talking with references who have actually worked with the candidate represents an evaluation of job performance over time.
