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Dear Annie: I read your article about quitting over ethics, and I have a somewhat related question about my own situation. I was recently forced out of my job, following a dispute with my boss that was partly about ethics. I spoke with both an attorney and the local labor board, and because of the unusual circumstances surrounding my firing, they both think that I could win in court if I decided to sue the company, but I'm not interested in a long, costly legal battle.
亲爱的安妮：我拜读了您那篇关于出于道德考虑而辞职的文章，我自己的情况多少与此也有点相关，因此向您提问。最近我和老板发生了争执，部分原因就在于道德问题，此后我被迫离职。我和律师以及本地的劳工委员会谈过，由于我被解雇的情况很不寻常，他们都认为如果我决定起诉这家公司的话，我很可能能够赢得官司，可是我无意卷入旷日持久、成本高昂的诉讼。
However, I did work out a separation agreement with human resources. One of the provisions in it states that my former employer will not discuss the reasons for my departure with people who ask for a reference. I suspect my old boss is violating this agreement, because I just had a job offer withdrawn after the hiring manager contacted this person. Keeping in mind that I really don't want to sue, what can I do about this? –Norm
不过，我和人力资源部门达成了离职协议，其中一个条款就是：如果有人要求原雇主提供离职证明，公司不得透露我离职的原因。可是，我怀疑前老板违反了这份协议，因为有家公司本来已经答应聘用我，但招聘经理与我的前老板联系后却反悔了。我该怎么办？重申一下：我真的不想打官司。——诺姆
Dear Norm: This problem is a lot more common than you might think. Even without a separation agreement that specifically prohibits a former employer from badmouthing an ex-employee, most big companies have blanket policies in place that permit references to confirm nothing more than dates of employment and job title.
亲爱的诺姆：这个问题相当常见，并不像你想得那么特殊。就算没有离职条款来专门限制前雇主不得说离职雇员的坏话，多数大公司也都有统一的政策，除了员工的在职时间和工作头衔之外，不得透露其它任何信息。
Unfortunately, like so many corporate policies, these are honored mainly in the breach.
不幸的是，如同其他众多公司政策，上述规定也得不到切实执行。
"About 99% of the time, people we call for a reference don't even ask who we are before they start talking," says Heidi Allison, managing director of Allison & Taylor, a firm that specializes in finding out what people's references are actually saying about them.
Allison & Taylor公司专门分析推荐信的真实含义，公司执行董事海蒂??艾莉森指出：“约99%的情况下，我们打电话要求提供推荐材料时，对方都不问我们是谁，就开始大讲特讲。”
People's tendency to reveal more than they're supposed to isn't new, but Allison notes that it's gotten worse since the recession started. "HR departments now have a lot of young, inexperienced staffers answering the phones. Sometimes when we've been referred to them by managers we've called, they've read us someone's entire personnel file verbatim -- the good, the bad, and the indifferent," she says.
人们一向容易逾越应有范围，透露过多信息，这不是什么新鲜事，不过艾莉森指出，经济衰退开始后，这个问题更严重了。“人事部门现在有许多年轻而缺乏经验的员工接听电话，有时候我们给经理们打电话，但却会转到这些年轻员工那里，他们甚至会逐字逐句把前员工的整个个人档案读给我们听——无论好话、坏话还是废话。”她说
"Or some companies have no in-house HR department at all anymore," she adds. "So a request for a reference gets shuffled around to employees in other areas. They're busy, it isn't really their job, and they may not be familiar with company policy, so they have a tendency to say whatever pops into their heads." Yikes.
“还有些公司根本就不再设立内部的人事部门，”她补充说，“因此咨询前员工表现的请求会被转到其他方面的员工那里。他们忙得很，这本来也不关他们的事情，况且他们也不熟悉公司的相关政策，因此倾向于想到什么就说什么。”
Even a less-than-enthusiastic tone of voice or a terse "no comment" can be as damaging as a negative remark. So how can you make sure the people you're giving as references aren't sinking your prospects?
就连不甚热情的语调或者简明扼要的“无可奉告”都有可能像负面评价一样影响你的形象。那么，如何保证向潜在雇主提供的“推荐人”不会毁掉你的前途呢？
In your case, where you have reason to believe your boss is violating your separation agreement, a possible solution is a cease-and-desist letter, written by an attorney on your behalf, reiterating the terms of the agreement and requesting that the boss abide by it. You say you don't want to sue anyone (which is smart), but your old boss doesn't know that, does he? So a stern letter from a lawyer may be enough to make him think twice about his response to the next prospective employer who calls asking about you.
你说过不想起诉任何人（这种想法是明智的），可你的前老板并不知道这一点，对不对？因此，措辞严厉的律师函可能足以让他三思而后行，下一位潜在雇主再打电话调查你的情况时，他或许会谨慎些。
Another tactic that works: Put your cards on the table.
另一个有用的策略是：坦率说明情况。
"When an interviewer asks you for references, you can say right up front, 'My former boss and I didn't see eye to eye, so if I may, I'd like to give you contact information for three other people who can tell you about my performance, just so you get a balanced picture'," Allison says.
“如果面试官要求你提供几个推荐人，你可以坦率地告诉他，‘我跟前老板不对眼，因此如果你允许的话，我想再给你其他三个人的联系方式，他们都能证明我的工作表现，如此你可以更平衡地了解情况。’”艾莉森指出。
"That way, even if your old boss is undermining you, the person who calls him for a reference doesn't get an unpleasant surprise -- and you don't appear to be trying to hide something."
“这样的话，就算前老板恶意诋毁你，打电话向他征求意见的人也不会感到惊讶——你也不会显得好像在刻意隐瞒什么。”
Alerting an interviewer ahead of time that a particular manager might not be your biggest fan is a relatively low-risk way to go, Allison adds, because "almost everyone has reported to someone, sometime in his or her career, where the personal chemistry just wasn't great. If they really want you, they'll hire you anyway."
艾莉森补充说，提前告诉面试官某位经理人不大喜欢你，风险相对来说并不大，因为“几乎每个人在职业生涯中都曾经有过与顶头上司之间的个人关系不那么融洽的情况。如果他们真的想要你，无论如何都会招你。”
Of course, this approach assumes that you do have other erstwhile bosses and colleagues who would be happy to give you a glowing recommendation. Before you give out their contact information, it never hurts to call them and ask if they'd mind talking you up. You can even coach them a little on which aspects of your past performance you'd appreciate their mentioning.
当然，这种方法有一个假设的前提：你得有其他前上司和同事愿意热情洋溢地推荐你。把他们的联系信息给潜在雇主之前，提前给他们打个电话，问问他们是否愿意帮你说说好话。这么做肯定没坏处。你甚至可以教教他们怎么说，让他们知道你希望他们重点谈谈哪些方面的表现。
Luckily, there's a good chance that, with a few friendly ex-coworkers in your corner, you don't need your old boss at all. A few days ago, curious about how crucial a former boss's recommendation really is, I asked executive recruiters Korn Ferry International to conduct an informal online poll of managers visiting the firm's web site.
幸运的是，如果有几位要好的前同事帮你说话，很有可能你完全不必提供前老板的联系方式。几天前，出于好奇，想弄清前雇主的推荐到底有多重要，我请求经理人招聘公司Korn FerryInternational帮我进行一次非正式网络调查，询问访问该网站的经理人的意见。
The question: "When you are considering hiring someone, is a reference or recommendation from the person's last boss an absolute prerequisite?"
调查的问题是：“考虑聘用某人时，此人前任老板的推荐是否属于绝对的先决条件？”
You may be cheered by the result: Of the 252 managers who answered the question, 89% said "no."
调查结果或许会让你欢欣鼓舞：共有252位经理人参与调查，其中89%选择了“否”。
Talkback: Have you ever worked for someone you would hesitate to give as a reference? Have you ever given a negative reference to someone else? Leave a comment below.
读者反馈：前上司中，有没有哪一位你不愿意写作推荐人？你是否就某人的工作表现给出过负面评价？欢迎留言讨论。
