…it happens at least once a month in our company…a candidate looses out on an opportunity because of a “backdoor” reference who “threw them under the bus,” as the saying goes..
a backdoor reference is a “reference” from someone who supposedly knows you, but you don’t provide as a business reference..someone you might have worked with or for in the past, or, as is the usual case, someone who knows someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who thinks they know you..
here is the problem with “backdoor” references…if someone implies to someone else that you, for whatever reason, aren’t a good potential employee, and you don’tget hired…that person is right and the person or firm considering you will never know if they were right or wrong because you didn’t get hired…
unfortunately, it is human nature to be negative about stuff like this…and it is rather sad…some people feel “big” by diminishing others…even if they don’t know what they are talking about…i once had a candidate get a bad reference from someone who knew somone, who knew someone, who knew somone who played golf with my candidate….one time!…yea, you got it..this was a third or fourth hand negative testimony from someone who had no idea what they were talking about…
if you have been in any profession or industry for any length of time, and you are looking for a job, you’d best expect that a potential hiring authority is going to find at least one or two “backdoor” references regarding you…even if they are distant…best hope they are good references
there isn’t much you can do about this …if you have burned some bridges in your career, try to mend them…if you think some folks you use to work for don’t like you, make sure you have some stellar references to offset any negative ones that may be uncovered…
most of life isn’t fair and this is one of the most unfair aspects of looking for a job
