Do you read work certificates?
Thoughts on Secret Codes and Reference letter Generators
Obligatory in the DACH region, not common worldwide. What hasn't already been written in and about reference letters. The document of the secret codes, the language between the lines, for experts only. Mind the gap: Nicely written on a first glance, but with meanly meaning. The Mentioning of trivialities as significant allusions, a veritable science.
But: There are no longer uneducated employees who cannot understand and interpret job references. And also none who put up with bad ratings, despite corresponding confessions to uncoded certificate formulations in the footnote.
Here are some good examples in German
Recently, I stumbled across a very awkward passage in a French Swiss certificate of work. When I asked what this sentence was supposed to mean, the gentleman in question told me: "This is version three after a long legal dispute." Look here, I thought to myself, I almost guessed it.
I talk a lot with executives. In the meantime, they don't pay much attention to written work certificates. This is "Nonsense", said a site manager recently, as "meaningless, endless empty words", another head of department described certificates of work. A CEO spoke of "fig leaves and eyewashing". Only HR would still cling to this sovereignty of interpretation, said one critical voice.
The work certificate is one piece in the puzzle
Do I belong to the old generation because I still like to demand and read employment references? In my defense, I'm always trying to get evidence. Especially when it comes to recruitment, where there is always too little information available to make an important personnel decision.
Information from third parties, especially from employers, is evidence. The written employment reference letter has become particularly popular in German-speaking countries. Abroad, the situation is quite different. The written employment reference letter as such is largely unknown. There, other styles have become commonplace, such as verbal references or a letter of recommendation. The status of a letter of recommendation is not the same as an official work certificate.
Questionnaires and sentence sleeves in the certificate generator
Larger companies in particular, need to strive for homogeneity. For this purpose, a performance review is sent out for the preparation of those certificates. Out of this, catchwords and empty phrases stringed together with appropriate writing generators are transformed into smooth, interpretive sentences. Nicely differentiated, according to performance level. This has several advantages:
- The text can be standardized across the entire company and its locations.
- The text can be adapted almost identically to different languages.
- The phrases and sentences stand up to thorough scrutiny and the legal attacks.
And since AI has been writing the testimonials, there is even less usable information in it. The result is precisely the kind of "cheap writing" that many supervisors think.
Written reference check by third-party company
Where there's a need, there's a market: the "Reference Checkers". Against money, an individual reference check is offered. These third-party companies are not familiar with the applicant nor the job profile. This is intended to ensure a neutral approach.
I recently experienced the following reference check from a third-party company: They sent me a question link to my personal mail out of the blue. Once I had filled it out, the job was done. Although the classic question: "Would you hire this person again?" I had answered: "No". But my answer did not cause follow-up, nor additional questions, the paper was filled. The candidate has been hired. Irritating enough, that money was paid for this.
My solution
I've started to ask for verbal references in our recruitments. I'll tell you more about that in the next newsletter.