離職證明:前老闆使絆子怎麼辦?大綱

Dear Annie: I read your article about quitting over ethics, and I have a somewhat related question about my own situation. I was recently forced out of my job, following a dispute with my boss that was partly about ethics. I spoke with both an attorney and the local labor board, and because of the unusual circumstances surrounding my firing, they both think that I could win in court if I decided to sue the company, but I'm not interested in a long, costly legal battle.
親愛的安妮：我拜讀了您那篇關於出於道德考慮而辭職的文章，我自己的情況多少與此也有點相關，因此向您提問。最近我和老闆發生了爭執，部分原因就在於道德問題，此後我被迫離職。我和律師以及本地的勞工委員會談過，由於我被解僱的情況很不尋常，他們都認爲如果我決定起訴這家公司的話，我很可能能夠贏得官司，可是我無意捲入曠日持久、成本高昂的訴訟。

However, I did work out a separation agreement with human resources. One of the provisions in it states that my former employer will not discuss the reasons for my departure with people who ask for a reference. I suspect my old boss is violating this agreement, because I just had a job offer withdrawn after the hiring manager contacted this person. Keeping in mind that I really don't want to sue, what can I do about this? –Norm
不過，我和人力資源部門達成了離職協議，其中一個條款就是：如果有人要求原僱主提供離職證明，公司不得透露我離職的原因。可是，我懷疑前老闆違反了這份協議，因爲有家公司本來已經答應聘用我，但招聘經理與我的前老闆聯繫後卻反悔了。我該怎麼辦？重申一下：我真的不想打官司。——諾姆

Dear Norm: This problem is a lot more common than you might think. Even without a separation agreement that specifically prohibits a former employer from badmouthing an ex-employee, most big companies have blanket policies in place that permit references to confirm nothing more than dates of employment and job title.
親愛的諾姆：這個問題相當常見，並不像你想得那麼特殊。就算沒有離職條款來專門限制前僱主不得說離職僱員的壞話，多數大公司也都有統一的政策，除了員工的在職時間和工作頭銜之外，不得透露其它任何信息。

Unfortunately, like so many corporate policies, these are honored mainly in the breach.
不幸的是，如同其他衆多公司政策，上述規定也得不到切實執行。

"About 99% of the time, people we call for a reference don't even ask who we are before they start talking," says Heidi Allison, managing director of Allison & Taylor, a firm that specializes in finding out what people's references are actually saying about them.
Allison & Taylor公司專門分析推薦信的真實含義，公司執行董事海蒂??艾莉森指出：“約99%的情況下，我們打電話要求提供推薦材料時，對方都不問我們是誰，就開始大講特講。”

People's tendency to reveal more than they're supposed to isn't new, but Allison notes that it's gotten worse since the recession started. "HR departments now have a lot of young, inexperienced staffers answering the phones. Sometimes when we've been referred to them by managers we've called, they've read us someone's entire personnel file verbatim -- the good, the bad, and the indifferent," she says.
人們一向容易逾越應有範圍，透露過多信息，這不是什麼新鮮事，不過艾莉森指出，經濟衰退開始後，這個問題更嚴重了。“人事部門現在有許多年輕而缺乏經驗的員工接聽電話，有時候我們給經理們打電話，但卻會轉到這些年輕員工那裏，他們甚至會逐字逐句把前員工的整個個人檔案讀給我們聽——無論好話、壞話還是廢話。”她說

"Or some companies have no in-house HR department at all anymore," she adds. "So a request for a reference gets shuffled around to employees in other areas. They're busy, it isn't really their job, and they may not be familiar with company policy, so they have a tendency to say whatever pops into their heads." Yikes.
“還有些公司根本就不再設立內部的人事部門，”她補充說，“因此諮詢前員工表現的請求會被轉到其他方面的員工那裏。他們忙得很，這本來也不關他們的事情，況且他們也不熟悉公司的相關政策，因此傾向於想到什麼就說什麼。”

Even a less-than-enthusiastic tone of voice or a terse "no comment" can be as damaging as a negative remark. So how can you make sure the people you're giving as references aren't sinking your prospects?
就連不甚熱情的語調或者簡明扼要的“無可奉告”都有可能像負面評價一樣影響你的形象。那麼，如何保證向潛在僱主提供的“推薦人”不會毀掉你的前途呢？In your case, where you have reason to believe your boss is violating your separation agreement, a possible solution is a cease-and-desist letter, written by an attorney on your behalf, reiterating the terms of the agreement and requesting that the boss abide by it. You say you don't want to sue anyone (which is smart), but your old boss doesn't know that, does he? So a stern letter from a lawyer may be enough to make him think twice about his response to the next prospective employer who calls asking about you.
你說過不想起訴任何人（這種想法是明智的），可你的前老闆並不知道這一點，對不對？因此，措辭嚴厲的律師函可能足以讓他三思而後行，下一位潛在僱主再打電話調查你的情況時，他或許會謹慎些。

Another tactic that works: Put your cards on the table.
另一個有用的策略是：坦率說明情況。

"When an interviewer asks you for references, you can say right up front, 'My former boss and I didn't see eye to eye, so if I may, I'd like to give you contact information for three other people who can tell you about my performance, just so you get a balanced picture'," Allison says.
“如果面試官要求你提供幾個推薦人，你可以坦率地告訴他，‘我跟前老闆不對眼，因此如果你允許的話，我想再給你其他三個人的聯繫方式，他們都能證明我的工作表現，如此你可以更平衡地瞭解情況。’”艾莉森指出。

"That way, even if your old boss is undermining you, the person who calls him for a reference doesn't get an unpleasant surprise -- and you don't appear to be trying to hide something."
“這樣的話，就算前老闆惡意詆譭你，打電話向他徵求意見的人也不會感到驚訝——你也不會顯得好像在刻意隱瞞什麼。”

Alerting an interviewer ahead of time that a particular manager might not be your biggest fan is a relatively low-risk way to go, Allison adds, because "almost everyone has reported to someone, sometime in his or her career, where the personal chemistry just wasn't great. If they really want you, they'll hire you anyway."
艾莉森補充說，提前告訴面試官某位經理人不大喜歡你，風險相對來說並不大，因爲“幾乎每個人在職業生涯中都曾經有過與頂頭上司之間的個人關係不那麼融洽的情況。如果他們真的想要你，無論如何都會招你。”

Of course, this approach assumes that you do have other erstwhile bosses and colleagues who would be happy to give you a glowing recommendation. Before you give out their contact information, it never hurts to call them and ask if they'd mind talking you up. You can even coach them a little on which aspects of your past performance you'd appreciate their mentioning.
當然，這種方法有一個假設的前提：你得有其他前上司和同事願意熱情洋溢地推薦你。把他們的聯繫信息給潛在僱主之前，提前給他們打個電話，問問他們是否願意幫你說說好話。這麼做肯定沒壞處。你甚至可以教教他們怎麼說，讓他們知道你希望他們重點談談哪些方面的表現。

Luckily, there's a good chance that, with a few friendly ex-coworkers in your corner, you don't need your old boss at all. A few days ago, curious about how crucial a former boss's recommendation really is, I asked executive recruiters Korn Ferry International to conduct an informal online poll of managers visiting the firm's web site.
幸運的是，如果有幾位要好的前同事幫你說話，很有可能你完全不必提供前老闆的聯繫方式。幾天前，出於好奇，想弄清前僱主的推薦到底有多重要，我請求經理人招聘公司Korn FerryInternational幫我進行一次非正式網絡調查，詢問訪問該網站的經理人的意見。

The question: "When you are considering hiring someone, is a reference or recommendation from the person's last boss an absolute prerequisite?"
調查的問題是：“考慮聘用某人時，此人前任老闆的推薦是否屬於絕對的先決條件？”

You may be cheered by the result: Of the 252 managers who answered the question, 89% said "no."
調查結果或許會讓你歡欣鼓舞：共有252位經理人蔘與調查，其中89%選擇了“否”。

Talkback: Have you ever worked for someone you would hesitate to give as a reference? Have you ever given a negative reference to someone else? Leave a comment below.
讀者反饋：前上司中，有沒有哪一位你不願意寫作推薦人？你是否就某人的工作表現給出過負面評價？歡迎留言討論。