To be freaking out re job offer? Would appreciate advice what to do from here….

[Livingtothefull]

I have a conditional offer for a job I really wanted, subject to satisfactory references.

I supplied ref details for all recent employers as requested. 3 of these came back satisfactory however I have been advised by the agent that they are unclear about the fourth and will be interviewing the manager (my manager at the time of leaving the organisation) to find out more.

The issue is the following: for approx a year from 2011 I was employed in quite a junior role (in terms of job title), however with a view to taking on more responsibility in a short time, so a career opportunity.

For several months however I had to 'act up' to a management equivalent role as the manager who recruited me, left abruptly within literally a couple of weeks after my joining. I was in at the deep end and had to cover everything the manager had done.

This is what I explained to the recruitment agency, trying to be factual but not saying anything critical about the company. Asked for my reason for leaving, I also explained that a new manager was recruited who saw my role as being a support role for the foreseeable future, and for that reason I had decided that the role wasn't suitable for me (all true).

However I was never formally promoted to the 'acting manager' role, was mostly just left to get on & handle things. I referred to this as 'acting management role' in my application as I felt that this was an accurate description of what I had done. I feel that all the info I gave in my application, was accurate and given in good faith.

I didn't give all the background as I did not want to be critical of an ex employer; however the whole truth was that the new manager seemed to take a dislike to me, within weeks of joining was derogatory about my work & criticised me in front of others on several occasions.

The MD (whom I had previously got on q well with) seemed to change his attitude towards me at the same time, & was very negative…would do things like complain whenever he saw me (in public, in corridors or in the break room during my lunch breaks!) in front of everyone, about things I hadn't done or done right in his view.

At the time I felt I was being bullied, but also that there was no point complaining due to actions of the MD and that there was nobody else to complain to. I couldn't cope with the situation - I went off sick with stress and then resigned, stating that the job was now unsuitable for me and had been misrepresented to me and that I felt I had not received from management the respect which I felt I had earned.

In retrospect I should maybe have made more of an issue of the bullying but at the time I couldn't cope and just wanted to get out of a bad situation and get on with my life….I had several serious personal issues at the same time. However I am a bit reluctant to refer to bullying at this stage as I didn't address it as such at the time.

Basically, I am scared that I will lose this latest job offer due to an unsatisfactory ref…because

1. I don't trust the ex employer to act in good faith…although there is no documentary evidence of any performance issues with me.
2. There is nothing to substantiate the reality of the work I did with the company…on paper I worked there in a very junior role and that is all there is, I have no way to prove my claim that my real role was far more demanding than this and don't believe that ex-employer will volunteer this information.
3. I think I have very little redress if I lose this job offer as a result…believe I would have to prove ex-employer acted maliciously which is impossible?

Please could you advise me re best course of action…should I be more open with new employer about the background of this?

I don't think there's much you can do really. You definitely shouldn't have listed yourself as Acting Manager when that's not what your job title was and when there was no proof that you performed the role. You could explain it to the potential employer if they come back and ask for an explanation but I'm not sure it would do you a huge amount of good.

You may find these links useful:

www.gov.uk/work-reference

www.gov.uk/work-reference

A reference must be fair and accurate and not contain opinion. You do have a right to challenge an unfair reference.

Cupid - thanks for your response.

IME employees in 'acting-up' roles do not have any change to their official job title. Not everything can be documented, however in reality individuals frequently perform tasks outside the remit of their roles and use this to sell themselves when seeking a new role. I don't see why I can't refer to the experience that I know I have gained….I thought people did that all the time?

I was always upfront about my status when questioned. It certainly wasn't my intention to mislead anyone.

SilverBirch - many thanks for the links, that's really helpful.

Did they ask you about that particular role in your interview? If you were clear at that point that it wasn't your actual job title, you may not have a problem. Doing jobs outside of the remit of your job description is common...I've done it a lot myself and used the experience gained during interviews. But there's a difference between using experience you've gained while informally filling a role for interview purposes and actually officially being in that role.

Did they ask you about that particular role in your interview? If you were clear at that point that it wasn't your actual job title, you may not have a problem. Doing jobs outside of the remit of your job description is common...I've done it a lot myself and used the experience gained during interviews. But there's a difference between using experience you've gained while informally filling a role for interview purposes and actually officially being in that role.

Did they ask you about that particular role in your interview? If you were clear at that point that it wasn't your actual job title, you may not have a problem. Doing jobs outside of the remit of your job description is common...I've done it a lot myself and used the experience gained during interviews. But there's a difference between using experience you've gained while informally filling a role for interview purposes and actually officially being in that role.

Whoops! There's obviously no need to read that 3 times

Contacting ACAS (bottom of link i posted) for specific advice may also be useful if it does go pear shaped for you.

It is perfectly OK to describe additional duties, responsibilities and tasks you did within a specific role for a period of time even if they were not part of your formal substantive role and perfectly normal on CVs and job applications. Where you probably need to be careful is to avoid over embellishing it to the point it is misleading.

There are areas where data protection comes in to how much a former employer can reveal. Such as medical conditions that impacted your ability to fulfil a role, unless you have given express permission. Being off sick with stress before you resigned may come into information that they are not permitted to reveal. I am not totally sure but another Mner may have some expertise in this area.

Cupid - thanks, I certainly never claimed to hold a job title other than my 'official' one, just that I was 'acting' in that role. As far as I recall I explained this at the interview…..I certainly always explain the circumstances truthfully when questioned.

I may consider adjusting the wording on my CV in future to make this clearer, but in all honesty I never set out to mislead anyone through this claim, it genuinely never occurred to me that this would be an issue.

As far as I am aware candidates need to be truthful during the recruitment process as to information about knowledge and experience gained in previous roles…but not aware of any obligation to give only information that can be substantiated. It may be problematic when facts can't be substantiated, but it doesn't follow that the candidate has been dishonest.

Prospective employers are also going to be more concerned about your more recent employment references rather than the one from 3/4 years ago, so try not to worry too much until you are sure there is a problem.

Thanks Silver, I will try not to worry about it although I have the whole bh weekend to fret about it now!

I have had several employers in the meantime and they have all been fine, no issues. I am upset that my future is being jeopardised due to one bad experience with a fairly recent employer….believe that such things happen frequently, how do you defend yourself against this?

What I really want advice on is what to say if the new employer comes back and asks for more clarification…..should I give more details re problems I had with ex employer? Or could this backfire?

Can you get a copy of the reference to see what was said? Would suggest asking your old employer for this - will either sort of put your mind at rest or let you know what you need to address

Did you need to put this job as it was over 3 years ago? I think that you only need references from the last 3 years. If it doesn't affect your ability to do your new job I don't see why your new employers would be interested in going so far back.

Aridane, I think the issue is that the ex employer initially gave a 'bare bones' reference - dates and job title only. The prospective employer wants more details about precisely what my role entailed, so has arranged to discuss further with the ex employer next week.

The ex employer manager is not aware of what I actually because this all happened before he joined. As mentioned above, he seemed to have an issue with me so will not be inclined to do me any favours. I feel that I accomplished a huge amount there - am really proud to this day of how I coped in a difficult situation - but can't substantiate it.

The job description for my 'official' role bears no relation at all to what I actually did. But I am worried that the ex manager will stick to the letter of the JD in describing my role, giving the (inaccurate) impression that I lied/talked up my role there.

Sidalee7 - they asked for details of recent employers going back several years. I am hoping that it won't be an issue to have one below par reference (am not expecting a glowing reference just a factual one - though no issues were raised during my employment so don't see how they can give a negative ref). But until the process is complete I can't help worrying.

I would write a few notes and practise what I might say if they do raise.
Respond calmly and professionally. Explain that you are not surprised that they have given an "indifferent " reference, but you are somewhat disappointed.

Explain the facts as you have given them to us. It was good junior role that gave you some useful additional experience when the former boss left. Explain that when the new manager was appointed your role changed considerably and you were unable to establish a mutually beneficial working relationship, it was quite difficult at times " to be honest" and after it began to be personally difficult for you decided to leave.

Give no more information than you need to, but if you can spin it your favour what you gained from the experience and how it has given you more confidence in handling challenging working relationships, adapting to change in your role and so forth. Try not to feel or be too defensive, most of us will have experienced something similar in our working life. What a prospective employer is wanting to avoid is a potentially serially difficult member of staff, reassure them subtly that this is not the case.

Nobody gives negative references anymore because they open themselves up to a law suit. All they can do is state that you worked for them for a certain time period, and your prospective employer reads into that what they will.

That's great advice thanks so much.

I will prepare something to say over the weekend in case they come back to me for clarification (which they probably will) and will use this advice. I don't feel I have anything to be ashamed of re my work record but have plenty to be angry about….don't think it is that uncommon for people to have had at least one truly bad experience with an employer, this one was mine.

I know that no employer wants to run the risk of a law suit….am hoping that the ex employer supports my account of what my role actually entailed. But as I say, I don't trust their integrity.

Hi, OP - regrettably, the factual reference - Living worked here from A to B as X- is now utterly standard and nothing adverse it to be read into that. It is driven by a liability protection to avoid recommending, or failing to outline the failings, of a candidate and incurring liability that way to the new employer. At least this is the position in the professional / financial services sector I work in

As Aridane has said, a minimal reference is standard as employers don't want to be sued bybeithervthe new employer or the ex employee. It doesn't mean you were not considered to have done a good job.