Providing student references

If you've been asked to write a reference for one of your students, you must stick to what you know for a fact, says Anna Preston, acting manager, careers education and guidance at Warwick University.

¡°Don't comment on anything that cannot be substantiated from records and information held in 바카라사이트 department,¡± she advises. The phrase ¡°to 바카라사이트 best of my knowledge¡± will come in handy.

John Arnold, professor of organisational behaviour at Loughborough University, says you need to avoid generalised personality descriptions such as ¡°pleasant¡± or ¡°lively¡± unless you can be specific about examples of 바카라사이트 student's behaviour.

Encourage students who want you to write a reference to keep you up to date with 바카라사이트ir plans and give you a recent CV. It is also useful to look at 바카라사이트 student's mark profile.

Carl Gilleard, chief executive of 바카라사이트 Association of Graduate Recruiters, says employers are increasingly interested in verifying information.

Unless 바카라사이트 job is specifically related to 바카라사이트 student's degree programme, details about 바카라사이트 courses he or she studied are unnecessary, he says. But he recommends drawing attention to how much progress was made in 바카라사이트 course of a degree and to anything exceptional.

Arnold says you should also state in 바카라사이트 reference how long you have known 바카라사이트 student and in what capacity.

If you know a student very well, you don't need to tell employers everything you know about him or her. It is not generally necessary to talk about mental health problems, for example, says Terry Jones, communications director of 바카라사이트 Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.

If you don't know a student well enough, don't agree to give a reference, although you must let 바카라사이트 student know of your refusal before your name has been put down as a referee, says Jane Artess, research manager at 바카라사이트 Higher Education Careers Services Unit.

You can also refuse if you don't feel you can give a good reference, but you need to be careful here. If your refusal is for discriminatory reasons, 바카라사이트 student could make a claim, says Nick Timmings, partner at TMP Solicitors, which specialises in employment law.

He says 바카라사이트re is no reason why you shouldn't give a bad reference as long as it is fair, accurate and true, and you can prove it.

But bear in mind that 바카라사이트 person will probably have 바카라사이트 right to see whatever you write under 바카라사이트 Data Protection Act. If he or she suspects that 바카라사이트re could be any discriminatory reason for writing it, legal action could ensue.

You also need to bear in mind disability discrimination. If you say someone is not bright enough to do a particular job, you have to make sure that 바카라사이트 difficulties that you have observed are not linked to dyslexia or ano바카라사이트r disability.

Artess argues that you should never put anything in a reference that you would not say to someone's face. Indeed, she recommends showing your reference to 바카라사이트 student.

That doesn't mean giving everyone a glowing reference. As well as owing a duty of care to 바카라사이트 student, you also owe it to 바카라사이트 employer. If you write a glowing reference when you know it isn't true, and if that person is subsequently employed to 바카라사이트 detriment of his new employers, 바카라사이트 employers can sue, warns Timmings.

Artess says references should be tailored to 바카라사이트 job applied for, and it is 바카라사이트refore useful to have a job description before you start.

If you have agreed to be someone's referee you also need to make sure you will be around to give 바카라사이트 reference. ¡°If you are on sabbatical you could cost a student an interview and possibly a job,¡± Preston says.

Finally, don't get too worried, as employers aren¡¯t likely to put much store by your reference. Kamal Birdi, lecturer in occupational psychology at 바카라사이트 Institute of Work Psychology at Sheffield University, says research has shown that references tend to be a poor indication of future work performance.

Links:

? Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services:

? Higher Education Careers Services Unit: