References

Before Lucy has the opportunity to tell me what the things are she wants form me, I begin my process of wondering. I don’t owe her any favours, so it can’t be that. However, if she wants a favour from me than she’ll owe me one, and that could be handy. It’s a little risky, and brave, for her to ask a favour from someone she has scorned. An expansion of my rule of the race in giving and repaying favours is that you don’t just ask favours of anyone; you need to act with appropriate prudence, like in any circumstance. Maybe she is going to try to extort me? No, that’s extreme behaviour, even for someone like Lucy, and besides, she has nothing on me, at least that I know about. Time to stop thinking and actually listen,

“Well, as I say, I want two things from you.” She is looking at me quite intently. I narrow my eyes. Deadpan, she says, “I think you owe me after the way you shamelessly robbed me of my promotion.” This silences me for a moment, I’m not overly happy with the way she put that but some bitterness is expected. I’m going to let her keep talking before I say anything. Realising this, she takes her cue, “The two things I want from you are pretty simple.” She maintains her poker face, “One, I want you to take me out for dinner.” That’s interesting. “And two, I want you to write me a reference.” Even more interesting. No foreplay, no ‘how have you been’, just straight to the point. I like Lucy.

The fact that she continues to use the word ‘want’ shows that she clearly feels that I’m indebted to her. I’m not. The diner part I have no problem with. She is obviously still interested in me and besides, we were friends, and intimate ones at that, so spending some time with her on a personal level is not an issue for me, unless she has ulterior motives and I’m completely wring in my assumption. I leave that one to rest temporarily and focus on the reference request. “You want a reference from me Lucy? Do you not remember some of the names you called me? I can remind you if you like?”

Asking for references can be a tricky business at the best of times. If you’re asking for it from an employer that you left on good terms then it should be fine. If you left on bad terms then forget it, save your foot the gunshot wound. Sometimes, you may think you left on good terms but you actually managed to annoy your employer by leaving, or even did them a favour by leaving. Both these things could mean you don’t get that glowing fairytale reference you’re expecting when you approach them. A good tip to avoid any mishaps is to ask your employer to write a reference just before you leave, for future use. This saves you having to come back to them at a later date, and they are more inclined to be nice and fluffy if you ask them on the spot and face-to-face. References can make or break you when going for a new job, and their importance should not be underestimated - another thing bridge burners don’t take into account. Why Lucy is asking me when I have the power to be as unfavourable as Mel Gibson’s therapist is odd and most importantly, dangerous, if she is wanting me to give the reference directly to her potential employer.

“Yes, a reference, I’m interviewing for a new role and they need a reference from my past two employers. And like I said, you owe me.” I was never her superior, but she is astute enough to know that if she asked Brian and the other senior mangers they would suspect they were on a hidden camera show, waiting for Ashton Kutcher to pop out.

My phone starts to ring, as if he knew I was thinking about him, it’s Brian. Complacently, I say, “Lucy, excuse me for a second, it’s your mate Brain, and I need to take this.” I actually really do, we’re about an hour outside of our scheduled get-together and the clock is fast running out on how to discover what the cause of his strange behaviour is before I meet with him.