Page 199 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

candidate was not much of a team player. It just so happened
that the job I had on o≠er focused on working in a close team
of five people. So the referee’s response left a doubt lingering
in my mind. He had not really given a bad reference, but he
had said enough, and what he hadn’t said spoke volumes.

In that particular instance, we had already held the third
interview, and I had told the candidate we were going to make
him an o≠er, subject to references . . . I had to have a swift

rethink. I got him back in, and said, ‘One of the things I want
to share with you is that we do work in a very small team
environment. It’s very much a collective environment. Could
you talk me through the dynamics of your previous job? How
did you work and how did you get on with your team?’ I spent

a whole hour on that single subject.
And it became apparent that he was a bit of a loner,
operating very much as an island, that he had not really been

dependent on other people, and almost felt that other people
were something of a distraction. That gave me enough of a
specific reason to say that we had decided not to go ahead
with the o≠er, which was a direct result of the reference that
had pointed me in a particular direction.

It can be illegal to give a false or inaccurate reference. To
avoid exposing themselves to any risk, most referees avoid
stating outright that one of their employees was useless

or incompetent. What they can do is say in answer to any
question, ‘No comment’, or leave a large question mark
hanging in the air.
The issue here is about value. I understand that a hiring

187 poker