To wonder if getting “reverse” references for a job might be instructive when making a decision to accept a new role

[RiRaAgusRuailleBuaille]

I’ve recently been thinking about moving on from current role - had an interview last week and got the offer today which I am pondering.

My previous line manager was the most overbearing, nitpicky, micro manager I’ve had in all my 25 years of work (thankfully they moved on and current one is brilliant) but it got me thinking - I got no inkling of that person’s style of management from my interview two years ago and subsequently discovered that the previous two people who did my current job left because of the micromanagement.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial to be able to pick two people at random from an organisation/team and ask for their anonymous honest impressions of potential new manager before making a decision that impacts on your whole life?

Utterly unworkable and pie in the sky, I know, but it would have saved my sanity in the past (and that of my nearest and dearest who have had to endure my moaning!). It might remove some of the frying pan/fire dilemmas and definitely I would right now like to know what people think about the person who might be my new boss as I didn’t get much of a sense of them at interview, despite asking what I thought were questions that might reveal info about team dynamics… it’s a much bigger risk for us as individuals than it is for the organisations we move to, so wouldn’t it be fairer for us all to do due diligence on each other rather than the one way traffic system we have currently? Also might temper a few egos along the way!

That's actually a really good idea.

I left a place which developed a really toxic management team over time but before I did, I remember wanting to tell new members of staff to run for the hills!

Along the lines of the “there’s no money left” note for the incoming chancellor in 2010.. I kind of wish my predecessor could have left a coded message on the mobile I inherited from her, but it would have been too late by that point!

My previous line manager was the most overbearing, nitpicky, micro manager I’ve had in all my 25 years of work (thankfully they moved on and current one is brilliant)
Conversely in your reverse-reference scenario you could doublecheck that your new boss will be a brilliant manager ... only to find that they move on and micro-manager gets appointed in their place.
There are no guarantees in life.

I’ve used glassdoor for this ….

Gosh yeah totally!
I once left a job I loved and lovely colleagues for a more senior and better-paid position.
I left the new job within weeks because the office culture was like Mad Men and I fucking hated it. Some women were crying in the toilets every day. Everyone hated it. I definitely wouldn’t have accepted the job if I’d had a chance to know the truth beforehand.

So ai think it’s a really good idea but probably impossible in practice because it would be very hard for those references to be truly anonymous.

Which is great and when I was in London, very instructive - am now in rural Ireland, so other than the grapevine, it’s hard to tell anything, as LinkedIn profiles aren’t as prevalent here either.

It’s a throw of the dice with any move and absolutely fortunes can change - as mine have in current role in a positive way, which is why I acknowledge the unworkability of my idea! I suppose because I like my current boss and it works so well for us both, I’m worried that I’ll end up in a role I am better suited for and better paid but with another dragon breathing fire down my neck…

Unfortunately unworkable because in those environments, current staff know full well they'd be crucified if the job offers were then declined after talking to them (and there would always be somebody who would try to use what 'Sarah said' as a way to a) leverage a higher offer and b) start their first month by stitching up somebody as part of 'turning the office around').

I know someone who asked to meet the team for an informal drink.....and then turned down the job offer based on that experience

So it's not such a bad idea

Totally agree, it would lead to a toxic and mutually suspicious environment - and very much wishful thinking in my OP - but I just really want to know what this potential new boss/team is like as current situation is fine, a bit lonely (WFH) and routine but survivable - if I leap out into a new pond will I be happier?! If only crystal balls were real…