Is this a reliable reference?

ok so i’m looking at this new position at a certain company. my reference is a senior analyst who has been there for a few years. however i only know him by going to a few barbecues and outings together. this is through my gf. he said that i can use him as a reference if i want but he really knows nothing about me in the professional context as we never worked together. has anyone else been in a similar situation and have it work out? what did you do?

i think you should at least talk to him, send him your resume, and kind of make sure you’re both on the same page with what he should say. talk about your responsibilities, your duties, how you progressed, who you reported to, specific projects you worked on, etc. not a big deal but if he’s a cool guy i think it’s fine to use him.

topher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i think you should at least talk to him, send him > your resume, and kind of make sure you’re both on > the same page with what he should say. talk about > your responsibilities, your duties, how you > progressed, who you reported to, specific projects > you worked on, etc. > > not a big deal but if he’s a cool guy i think it’s > fine to use him. thanks topher. he’s definitely cool with it and it’s a given that i’ll make sure that we’re on the same page. my concern is the legitimacy of our relationship. is it alright to have an acquaintance in the non-professional context as a reference? HOW effective is it? any HR people out there?

From trial and error they are not as good as prior bosses/coworkers. Professional contacts and aquaintences are next on the pole though.

oh… you don’t work for the same company? did you ever work for the same company? if not, i don’t think he’d be very useful. but who knows, i don’t think hr really cares. i mean, what is he gonna say? “well, i met Slash at some rock concerts and some barbeques… Professionally? well, he plays some mean riffs…”

it’s not ideal, but something’s better than nothing and usually people in a more senior role like your senior analyst acquaintance tend to be pretty honest about things because it’s their credibility on the line. just make sure you prime him in terms of the stuff you want to talk about - even though he can’t comment on your work, he might be able to comment on your personality, leadership potential, and so forth. one time a classmate and friend from college cited me as a reference. he let HR know that we’d never worked together but that i might still be able to provide some useful details on him based on his academic performance. when HR called me, i reiterated that i’d never worked with him, but that i knew him in an academic setting to be someone who was disciplined, hard working, and had a positive attitude. i’d also heard from his friends that he had done well on team projects as someone who took initiative within the group. knowing what i knew about him, i was pretty sure that these qualities could carry over well to the professional setting. again, even though he would have been better off getting a reference from his direct boss, circumstances were such that he wasn’t able to. i wasn’t the ideal person to vouch for him, but i suspect that HR talked to enough people who were either professional or academic acquaintances with him and feedback was consistent overall. he ended up getting the job.

thanks guys and/or gals. i think i know how to approach this any additional comments will be appreciated

dear slash, maybe it’ll suffice to tell him (the senior analyst barbecue guy) that you’re also writing in nigeria, have 2 dogs 3 cats and a wife named jane and hope to get a certified financial analyst diploma within a year and ask him to send you back that sum of $3000 in change you requested in your other post… under the alias william smith…

mehdiochre: haha :wink:

I didn’t think employers checked references anymore, except to verify employment? I heard that there are too many potential legal issues involved if someone gives a negative review.