When I was going through the hiring process for my current position, we hit a little snafu with the references. You see, my former company, in its decision to do three rounds of layoffs (I went in the second round- the management round), also decided to really push the organizational policy of “don’t provide references”. Managers were told not to provide references and to refer anyone who asked to HR, which would only give them dates of employment type information.

This had kind of been the company’s policy all along, but it had been softening in the last few years, especially as the company itself went to a very intensive background and reference check format. Managers had been being told that they should respond to reference checks as personal references, not on company time. But with the layoffs, they apparently decided that no, managers should not give references at all.

Now, I had been with that company for 8 years and had quite a bit of career growth there. With the exception of my former executive director (who had been let go in the first round of layoffs- the budget round), all of my references worked for my former company. And so when the new organization wanted to hire me, they were having trouble getting references.

I ended up being doubly lucky. First, I was lucky enough that the new place was interested enough in me (they did hire me, after all) to contact me and let me know about the issue, giving me a chance to provide them with additional references and contact information.

Second, I was lucky that I had been paying attention to my career coach and all of my friends when it came to building a network. I had made the decision to connect on LinkedIn with one of the other executive directors I used to have dealings with. I never worked for her, directly or indirectly, but as the support person for another executive director, had a number of dealings with her during my time at my old job. I had not, originally, been going to connect with her, partly because she was one of the people at that organization that I knew I never wanted to work for. Her management style and my working style did not mesh, and I knew it. When I was applying for jobs at my company after getting my MBA, I never applied for one that reported to her- never.

But I decided to connect with her anyway, partly because while she had not been laid off during the official rounds, she had been reorganized out of a position at our former company, too. I have to say, it was one of the best decisions I have made. When she accepted my connection (over a month before the reference issue, I should add), she sent me a note asking how I was doing. Later, she heard of a position she thought might be a good fit and contacted me to see if I was interested and wanted her to put in a word with the hiring manager. (I was not, as it was a project management role and I was focusing on operations, but I was surprised and appreciative that she asked.)

When I suddenly needed an additional reference, I was able to ask her, and she agreed. She even asked what aspects I wanted her to emphasize. (My ability to work across departments and build relationships. It is an absolute necessity for my new position, and I figured how much stronger a reference could I get for that than someone who I only worked with cross-departmentally.) She was actually on vacation in Hawaii when I contacted her, but she responded and even gave me a good time they could contact her (while she was at the airport waiting for her flight home). And then she followed up with me after the reference check was completed.

I am not certain that it would be an exaggeration to say that without having connected to her on LinkedIn, I would not have my new job.

I still don’t think I would want to work for her, but I am very glad to have worked with her, and even happier that we will be maintaining some sort of relationship, even if it is only through the computer.