Getting shut out of jobs? Why LinkedIn could be to blame.

 

"Search for References" a list behind your back! You can't see what's in yours!

 

There’s a horrible boss or coworker in every career history and with the help of LinkedIn, they are not only never going away; they will haunt you.  Anyone… and I mean anyone - can work the LinkedIn system and dig deeply into your career past (seeing a list of current coworkers and past ones) with just a click of the mouse by using the LinkedIn “Search for References” tool. They can make queries about you, unbeknownst to you. 

 

Your signature on this petition will deliver the message to LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner to remove “Search for References” so that bully bosses, harassers and other evil deed doers don’t have an opportunity to derail your job search.  Anyone that has a paid account with connections can investigate your career drama with just a click of the mouse by using “Search for References” ….and you’ll never know who did the snooping and who did the dissing. The worst part of all is that LinkedIn does not provide you with this reference list it has compiled on you. It is hidden from you so you can’t defend yourself.

 

This flawed methodology strips job seekers of the right to identify their own best references and opens the door for inaccuracies.  Moreover, it allows for complete strangers to obtain highly personal and sensitive data without your knowledge.  There is no requirement the searcher even be in your connections list…. It’s all behind your back.

 

From an employment perspective, the following story illustrates why LinkedIn’s privacy invasion is so devastating to job seekers:

 

Recently, a client contacted me at www.ReferenceRef.com because his job search was failing. I called to reference check his boss from thirteen years ago. She worked with him for two months, yet was still giving him a bad reference. When probed about his professional work history, she stated he never made his sales numbers, was resistant to change and difficult. Summarily, she gave the worst reference check imaginable.   He says he was fired without being given a chance when she started.  He wants to use the reference name of the person who hired him, not her.  LinkedIn, however, identifies the nightmare boss as his reference in a list “Search for references”.  As a soulless automaton, LinkedIn weighs in on a very personal matter and seizes control of his career destiny by listing her. He never knew this was happening.

 

Unauthorized background checks can occur before the recruiter even calls you for a phone screen.  You can be evaluated and discarded as a candidate without your knowledge. The references selected for you by LinkedIn might not even be your supervisors.  They could be former sub-ordinates, jealous co-workers or someone that doesn’t even know you but is willing to spread hearsay.

 

Employers had been required to seek your authorization to contact your references through a pre-employment background check. Now, all of this is happening behind a veil that LinkedIn has designed to bolster its own agenda of selling paid memberships. They make this information an easy resource for recruiters, but it is at your expense and it is deeply flawed.  . 

 

With over 15 years of HR leadership and executive experience including Fortune 100 size organizations, I have seen offers rescinded over poor references. This is why your references should be controlled by you, not LinkedIn.

 

I possess my SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification) I have a Bachelor’s Degree in communications from Hawaii Pacific University and am a PROSCI certified organizational change management practitioner. Also, I was formerly the Diversity chairperson for the Society of Human Resources Managers in Florida and I have recruited well over 1,000 professionals in my career history.  Out of empathy for downtrodden job seekers at the mercy of the unchecked outrageous behaviors of bully bosses, I started a company called www.ReferenceRef.com  I serve as a personal HR “reference referee” for job seekers. I help uncover it when the old boss is getting in the way of a new job. I help job seekers fix their reference problems. Reputable employers do not endorse their managers providing negative, subjective information in reference checks, but it happens everyday.  I provide reference checking services, job search counseling and cease and desist assistance when needed.

 

 

 

 

 

So, now you know. Take action by signing this petition and share with your friends. Screen shots detailing privacy issues can be found at www.ReferenceRef.com