How to write or un­der­stand job ref­er­ences

Getting a reference for a new job is really important, and in most cases, an employer will provide one. Not providing a reference could seem dis­astrous for the applicant, and they may implicate you if they do not get a job. Providing an unfair reference is also unethical and unfair towards the future employer. It is helpful to know how to write a job reference truth­fully but in such a way that you cannot be sued for slander, for example. So, is an employee on the safe side if their job reference mentions “solid pro­fes­sion­al knowledge,” “re­fresh­ing openness,” or “overall flawless behaviour”? It depends on the context, and any ambiguous phrasing may be cloaking some subtle criticism.

In principle, men­tion­ing a positive char­ac­ter­ist­ic does not in itself have to be a positive job reference, since the employer is obliged to cover a number of issues when con­sid­er­ing the contents of a job reference. In most cases, the as­sess­ments in the areas of work ability, will­ing­ness, endurance, working method, com­mit­ment, success, and potential only acquire value when for­mu­la­tions such as “always,” “ex­traordin­ary,” or “very best” are added. Con­versely, words such as “trying,” “within his or her abilities,” or “as far as possible” should send alarm bells ringing. In this article you will learn how to assess and correctly formulate a job reference, and what you should watch out for.

Job ref­er­ences could also, somewhat harshly, be called reports – re­min­is­cent of school reports. The language in a reference can also be decoded much in the same way as a school report would be. Even when these words are just slipped into a general statement, they could be referring to this scale.

• “He has always performed the duties assigned to him to our complete sat­is­fac­tion.”
• “She achieved out­stand­ing results and showed ex­traordin­ary com­mit­ment.”
• “They have excellent and well-founded expertise.”
• “She always worked with the utmost care and precision, even under difficult con­di­tions.”
• “His in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers have always been courteous, friendly, and correct.”

• “He has always carried out the tasks assigned to him to our complete sat­is­fac­tion.”
• “She achieved best results and showed great com­mit­ment.”
• “They have very good and well-founded spe­cial­ist knowledge.”
• “She always worked with the utmost care and precision.”
• “His in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers have always been im­pec­cable and exemplary.”

• "He has performed the duties assigned to him to our complete sat­is­fac­tion."
• "She achieved very good results and showed com­mit­ment."
• "He has solid and well-founded expertise."
• "She worked con­scien­tiously and reliably."
• "Their in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers has always been exemplary."

• "He has performed the duties assigned to him to our sat­is­fac­tion."
• "It achieved results of work that met the re­quire­ments."
• "He has solid expertise."
• "She worked properly and flaw­lessly overall."
• "All in all, his in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers were flawless."

• "He has performed the duties assigned to him to our sat­is­fac­tion to the greatest extent possible."
• "She usually achieved results that met the re­quire­ments."
• "He has basic expertise."
• "She worked to the best of her ability with care and accuracy."
• "His in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers were correct."

• "He has en­deav­oured to perform the duties assigned to him to our sat­is­fac­tion."
• "They have made every effort to achieve the required work results."
• "He showed un­der­stand­ing and interest in his field."
• "She tried to work reliably."
• "His in­ter­ac­tions with col­leagues, superiors, and customers were un­ob­jec­tion­able."

In addition to the wording in the job reference there are other hidden hints. These usually refer to a specific mis­con­duct or character trait that a later employer should be warned of by codes in the em­ploy­er­'s reference. As these examples will show, caution is always called for with ambiguous state­ments – and it might be that these are masking a criticism. This is not always the case, but it is good to double check the context when reading a statement you don’t know what to make of, or are con­sid­er­ing how to write the job reference you’ve been asked for.

It should be noted, however, that a job reference must not contain any features or wording intended to convey a hidden message about the employee. Topics that should never be included in a job reference are warnings, alcohol con­sump­tion, un­em­ploy­ment, dis­ab­il­it­ies, works union mem­ber­ship, as well as time off, illness, parental leave, and private in­form­a­tion.

In addition to the pro­hib­ited comments in job ref­er­ences, there are other legal con­di­tions that employers and employees should observe. If an employee is guilty of em­bez­zle­ment or the theft of company property, the current employer is obliged to write a cor­res­pond­ing notice – albeit as a code – on the job reference. Otherwise, you may be liable to pay com­pens­a­tion to the new employer and, in case of doubt, pay com­pens­a­tion if the employee concerned is caught stealing again at the future place of work.

End of em­ploy­ment on a date in the middle of a month generally indicates immediate firing, or end of em­ploy­ment. However, ref­er­ences ex­press­ing regret for the loss of the employee may mean that this was through no fault of the employee, and there are many reasons an employee may have to leave abruptly. Con­clud­ing remarks such as these express that:

• “We thank him for his ex­traordin­ary achieve­ments and his high level of com­mit­ment to the company and regret losing him as an employee. We wish him all the best for his future career and continued success."
• “With her departure, we are losing an ex­traordin­ar­ily committed employee, which we very much regret. We wish her all the best for her pro­fes­sion­al future and her future life and continued success."
• “We very much regret his decision, thank him for the way we worked together, and wish him all the best and much success for the future.”

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.