Leigh Anne had had four second interviews, with no subsequent job offers, when it occurred to her… Something was happening when her references were checked. She wondered what was being said. Something just wasn’t “right”… She had left all of her prior employers on good terms (so she thought) so she was stumped.

Leigh Anne decided to take action. She hired a reference checking service (the one she used was www.myreferences.com) and found out that indeed, one of her former employers was saying less-than-flattering things about her. He even inferred that she had been fired rather than laid off. She was shocked. She was angry. She contemplated hiring an attorney.

Her first impulse was to contact her former supervisor and discuss the situation. But, based on what she knew about his personality, she thought it just might make the situation worse.

Instead, she worked around it. She stopped using him as a reference – which was tricky – because it was her most recent employer. She regrets that it took her so long to make the connection between the reference-checking and the lack of job offers. Not a surprise – but none of the potential employers shared the negative feedback with her.

Do you know what your references are saying about you? If you don’t, I’d suggest you find out sooner rather than later!