Have a reference written: Better for the boss and the personnel department
For bosses or personnel managers, the reference is just an annoying chapter at the end of the employment relationship: Of course, you were a valuable and good employee, but writing the reference is annoying, time-consuming and involves a lot of work for the boss. For the boss and the personnel department, a reference costs time and causes effort that can be avoided. Many superiors therefore offer their employees the opportunity to draw up a reference themselves and submit this reference for signature.
- Save time: Have a reference written
- Why a good reference is important
- What personnel managers look for
The professional solution: Have the reference written – by experts.
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"My boss let me draw up my employer’s reference. The corresponding reference with grade 1. Would never have been able to do so."
Complete job reference in one day with desired grade
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Which grade should the reference correspond to?
Book a job reference
Having your reference written is a great opportunity, because no one in the company knows what you have done as well as you do. This gives you the opportunity to design the reference exactly as it fits into your own career plan – and this can put the finishing touches to your application and your own personal portfolio.
Everyone stands as an employee
a written employer’s reference
It is in the trade regulations in §109 paragraph 2 so prescribed and guaranteed, so that one does not stand after the time in the enterprise completely with empty hands there. However, this obligation can also have disadvantages: Future employers can insist that all previous professional stations are also documented. If there are no certificates, supporting documents or records of certain stations, this can cause mistrust.
But: The former boss must not publicly bash the employee in the reference. An employer’s reference must not only be truthful, but also well-worded – it must not openly put obstacles in your way. However, there are certain formulations and codes that experienced personnel managers and bosses who write a job reference or also have a job reference written, include to warn future employers: Attention, be careful with this application!
Personnel managers can write three different forms of a job reference: The interim reference is issued when you are still employed in the company.
The reason for the preparation can be complex: The previous supervisor, who knows you particularly well, is changing and you would like to have a certificate of work under him, a company takeover is imminent or you have simply not been assessed yet.
The simple employer’s reference Contains only the dates and facts of employment: How long one was employed? In which department did you work? Which tasks one has taken over? The qualified reference A reference is more detailed and, in addition to this general data, also contains assessments and evaluations of the work as well as the (social) behavior at the workplace. This is the form of reference most often requested by employees and sought after by future employers.
Formally, the job reference must meet some points: Everyone has the right to receive an individual job reference. If it should be recognizable that the reference is a general preprint, one has a right to a new work reference. Of course, it must also contain all the correct personal details: This includes, as described above, the period and type of employment. Attention: vacation or sick time must not be mentioned. The reason for changing the company or leaving may only be mentioned with the consent of the employee. If one does not want the dismissal or reason for it to be mentioned, the boss must respect that.
The company must not only issue a job reference, but also sign it (this is to be done by the HR manager or boss) and print it out on official, proper company paper. No one has to accept crumpled or handwritten job references. Having the reference written can be a solution.
The final sentence in the reference is particularly important: empty phrases are often used here to say goodbye to the former colleague, thank him or her and wish him or her every success. This is not obligatory for the employer – and if this sentence with the appropriate words of thanks is missing, this is usually interpreted negatively. Loosely based on the motto:
"The employee is not thanked and not wished a successful, professional career? There must be some reason for this!"
Points that every personnel manager pays attention to
There are five points that are important in job references and that we also pay close attention to when writing job references.
This includes the general formalities, which are actually self-evident, but are also often forgotten when employees write the job reference: The reference should of course be printed on company stationery (with the appropriate logo, letterhead and the addresses). But not only the data of the former employer should be correct: The employee’s own data, such as name, date of birth and address, must also be correct. Last but not least: the signature of the right person belongs under the text. This can be the personnel manager, the head of the company or even the direct supervisor, if he/she holds one of the above positions. Without the signature, the reference is worthless.
Knowledge and qualifications of the potential employee
The potential employer wants to get to know you better and to know what you have already done. If you want to have the reference written, it is essential to mention what knowledge was acquired during the time in the company, what qualifications you have and what exactly was done there. It also helps to mention the successes that have been achieved through the work. The potential boss can see directly what the applicant has contributed to the company’s success and that he is a valuable employee.
Do the competencies in the reference match the new position??
When an application is submitted, certain criteria are usually asked first, i.e., does the applicant match the qualifications listed in the job posting?. One can of course write the relevant knowledge and competencies in the resume to clear the first hurdle. However, if the examination goes on and suddenly there is nothing more in the reference about the things that were mentioned in the curriculum vitae, the personnel officer becomes suspicious. Therefore, special care should be taken here to ensure that this is taken into account in the job reference.
Development of performance
It is not a bad thing if an employee has worked for a long time in one company and then switches. In addition to the reason for the change, which is mentioned and elaborated on in the letter of application, the new boss is also interested in whether the applicant’s performance has improved during the time one has been with the company. Is there any development to be seen? Does the applicant still have potential and show that he or she would like to develop further?? There is always the possibility to mention this in the reference.
Hidden codes, signals, warnings and evaluations
Personnel managers always use certain warning signals in job references and letters of recommendation in order to warn the employee’s new bosses in this way in the job reference or to give hints without being too obvious. Clear evaluations or even mentions that put obstacles in the way of the applicant are forbidden. The job reference must be worded benevolently and positively. The legal situation has not prevented the development of a large number of secret codes over the years. Certain phrases or sentence positions immediately indicate the true opinion of the boss about the former employee to the practiced and experienced reader.
Do not use any text modules without checking them
Text modules and job reference templates are a dime a dozen on the Internet. However, not every self-proclaimed expert is a professional: you should be careful and not trust every example of a reference.
Does the person who created the template even know the structural requirements?? Does he know how a job reference is currently structured? How is the tone just right? And what are the dos and don’ts in the modern job reference??
With text modules that you find in forums or various sites, you can learn nothing about the supposed expert and do not know what you get.
Job reference: Pay attention to the individuality
Many bosses or HR managers have a template for each employee who leaves the company: Then they just quickly exchange the data, change a few words, so that the effort is kept as small as possible.
But it depends on the individuality! Potential new employers want to know more about the tasks at the old workplace in the reference – and above all, they want to go into more depth. The personnel managers have already gained a first insight through the cover letter and the curriculum vitae of the application. If the person who deals with your application continues to read at this point, he is interested and wants to know more: But if he then encounters an 0815 job reference that fits every other employee in the industry, it does not help him or the applicant any further.
The secret grading in the job reference
Bosses and personnel managers who write references or have their employees write references themselves use a hidden grading system that has become established over the years. Open negative evaluations or even grades are not allowed in the job reference – for this reason, a secret system is resorted to.
For this reason, we show you here the grading system that most personnel managers use to give hidden clues about the performance of former colleagues in the job reference:
Save time: Have a job reference drawn up with the grade you want
Grade 5 or. deficient: "On the whole, the cooperation was to our satisfaction"."
Grade 4 or. sufficient: "Mr./Mrs. Meier completed their tasks to our satisfaction."
Grade 3 or. Satisfactory: "The cooperation with Mr./Mrs. Muller was to our full satisfaction/ always to our satisfaction."
Grade 2 or. good: "Mr./Mrs. Schmitz always worked to our complete satisfaction."
Grade 1-2 or. very good to good: "The cooperation with Mr./Mrs. Schmidt was to our complete satisfaction."
Grade 1 or. very good: "Mr./Mrs. Meyer always did their work to our fullest/ greatest/most satisfaction."
In this secret grading system, small subtleties usually decide on huge leaps in the evaluation. Inexperienced writers often do not even realize that they are giving an employee or even themselves a bad evaluation in the eyes of future bosses and personnel managers, because they do not know these rules and customs. For this reason, if the boss offers to let you write the job reference yourself, it makes sense to find out exactly beforehand.
The best solution: Have a reference written
Writing a job reference is a task that you can’t just do on the fly. In addition to a great deal of expertise about the structure, content and general tone of job references, the person and their exact tasks and activities must be addressed. For many bosses, as described above, this is too much work and leave the employee to do the job. But what now? No experience in writing a job reference? You may have heard of a few rules, but you don’t know anything for sure without experience. Frustration can quickly arise if the result is not as expected. Nevertheless, it is a great opportunity if the boss gives this possibility and the job reference may be written by yourself.
Our tip: Have a reference written and hire someone who knows exactly what a good reference looks like. This not only saves time, but also gives you the perfect result. With the finished document, all you have to do is go to your boss, add letterhead, company layout and all formal requirements, and have it signed off. Already it is the perfect reference, which one can attach to the application without an uneasy feeling in the belly.
Have a reference written? We gladly accept this.
We as a professional application service offer the creation of individual employer’s references. This is how you can have your employer’s reference written – quickly, professionally, individually and precisely tailored to your needs and wishes. The job references are written by experienced personnel specialists with many years of experience and are written in such a way that the references are guaranteed to be well received when applying for the dream job.