[telegraph]

It's a clever idea, but as someone who has worked for (and listed as references) supervisors who were extremely flaky, extremely busy, or both, I would never want to judge someone based solely on whether or not their references promptly return a call.

[lionhearted]

I love the idea. I've always been skeptical of references - if anyone asked me about any staff I've had, I'd be pretty positive. Why burn bridges and start vendettas? There's definitely a few people I wouldn't call back for, but I'd call back for any of the people that were fantastic to work with. That means either really good at their job, or average+ with an amazing attitude (which can be the right ticket for some roles).

I might halfway pause and start a bad reference with, "Well..." and let the manager guess if he's perceptive enough, but I'd never speak ill of a former staff member. Too much chance of it biting the company back - it'd be pretty damn irresponsible of me to do that. But not calling back? Yeah, I'd do that. For great people? Callback the same day I get the message, no matter how busy, at least for a 90 second chat. Maybe I'm not everybody, but I think most halfway competent managers go out of their way to take care of the great people they've worked with.

[Ardit20]

Why would you bother or care about the opportunities of some guy who you might never meet again, especially if you are trying to meet a deadline or had a bad day or whatever.

[lionhearted]

You need to have fierce loyalty to the people that help you do great things in life. When someone works with you, and especially when they work under your guidance, they're making you successful and the company successful. In return, you do what's right by them, keep them informed, equipped, protect them, stand with them, and so on.

I've got fierce loyalty pretty high in my ethics, but there's a lot of pragmatic reasons too. On any one event, you could blow it off, but it's pretty obvious on the whole who goes to bat for their people and who doesn't. It's not something you make a calculation on - "Hmm, no one will know or care if I don't help this particular time." It's a way of life - take care of people that take care of you. Feels good inside, world sees it, recognizes it, and treats you well. A good thing, top to bottom.

[menloparkbum]

You always meet them again.