If you are looking for a new job, you usually enclose references from your previous employer with your application. In Austria, the employee is also entitled to such a certificate after the end of the employment relationship. But how relevant are they in practice?
“The importance used to be high. The personnel managers really looked at the references,” says Sigrid Leutgeb-Webersdorfer, Managing Director at Hill International in Linz. She has worked in human resources for companies for 25 years. Today the importance is much lower. One reason is that the legal requirements for service references changed a few years ago: “Today, a service reference must be positive.” Therefore, the meaningfulness is no longer so high. In senior management, employees often write their references themselves.
Gottfried Kraft, managing director of the Thalheim hairdressing chain Klipp, also confirms the declining importance: “The service certificate is merely an additional source of information.” References and letters of recommendation would give a fuller picture. Since a service reference must not contain any negative wording in order not to hinder the professional advancement of an employee, certain “codes” have crept in: “The employee has always worked to our particular satisfaction” is a seriously meant, positive wording, says Leutgeb- Webersdorfer. The phrase “The employee has done the assigned work properly” means that he has shown little initiative.
When judgment is difficult
For personnel who find it difficult to assess, it is also possible to issue a “simple certificate”: It only confirms that the employee was employed, and the area of responsibility is described. In contrast to qualified certificates, there are no assessments.
What is important for companies instead? In the salaried sector, a complete CV is crucial, says Kraft: “We place more value on references and recommendations than on certificates.”
In the commercial sector, the focus is on the career and “trial work”. By the way, showing up on time for a convincing job interview counts for more than a thick wad of references.
According to Leutgeb-Webersdorfer, a CV and a letter of motivation are important: the latter should not be “standard goods”, but work out why you are the best for the job.
Source: Nachrichten
