The email title demands attention - 'Reference for Gemma Brown'. One of the obvious responsibilities of those who teach or supervise students is to provide references for them when they look for further employment, or apply for further education or training courses.
The next bit says how important the reference is, and asks whether it can be shared with the candidate. There is then a form to complete.
This is where the trouble starts.
Were you Gemma Brown's line manager? If not, in what capacity are you providing this reference?
She was a student: I taught her in one seminar-based module.
What were the dates of employment of Gemma Brown with you?
She wasn't in employment at all: she was an undergraduate student.
If she has already left your employment, what was the reason?
She wasn't in employment - and she graduated. The worst forms simply have a set of closed boxes for the answer to this question, and graduation is not one of the possibilities offered.
What was her final salary in your employment?
I have TOLD you repeatedly that she was not employed by me. She was a student: she was not being paid to work for me.
On how many days in the last 6 months was Gemma late for work without a good reason?
The question is unanswerable because it starts from a false belief in what she was doing.
How many days sick leave did Gemma Brown take in the last 6 months?
I can ask the departmental keeper of the medical records on students to look this up, but I am getting fed up with these irrelevant questions.
Would you re-employ Gemma?
Does this mean would I admit her as an undergraduate student once again? Why should she want to do so? She's already graduated.
Are there any other comments you think would be helpful about Gemma's performance in your employment?
SHE WAS NOT IN MY EMPLOYMENT - but, yes, I've got a lot of very positive things to say about Gemma's intelligence, her team-working skills, her meeting of deadlines, her ... but your box isn't big enough for me to say all these things.
Some readers of this blog who are not in the position of providing references may believe that such forms are only required for part-time or low grade employment. Not so: I have been goaded into this today by being asked these questions for a senior team-leader position in a media firm.
I would love to print such a form out, tear it up and send it back to the requester, with an explanation, in an envelope - but there is no postal address given! Clearly we in universities are under a moral responsibility to provide references for our students.
But I would like to see a responsibility laid on prospective employers to ask us sensible questions on the reference forms they demand that we complete for them.
The next bit says how important the reference is, and asks whether it can be shared with the candidate. There is then a form to complete.
This is where the trouble starts.
Were you Gemma Brown's line manager? If not, in what capacity are you providing this reference?
She was a student: I taught her in one seminar-based module.
What were the dates of employment of Gemma Brown with you?
She wasn't in employment at all: she was an undergraduate student.
If she has already left your employment, what was the reason?
She wasn't in employment - and she graduated. The worst forms simply have a set of closed boxes for the answer to this question, and graduation is not one of the possibilities offered.
What was her final salary in your employment?
I have TOLD you repeatedly that she was not employed by me. She was a student: she was not being paid to work for me.
On how many days in the last 6 months was Gemma late for work without a good reason?
The question is unanswerable because it starts from a false belief in what she was doing.
How many days sick leave did Gemma Brown take in the last 6 months?
I can ask the departmental keeper of the medical records on students to look this up, but I am getting fed up with these irrelevant questions.
Would you re-employ Gemma?
Does this mean would I admit her as an undergraduate student once again? Why should she want to do so? She's already graduated.
Are there any other comments you think would be helpful about Gemma's performance in your employment?
SHE WAS NOT IN MY EMPLOYMENT - but, yes, I've got a lot of very positive things to say about Gemma's intelligence, her team-working skills, her meeting of deadlines, her ... but your box isn't big enough for me to say all these things.
Some readers of this blog who are not in the position of providing references may believe that such forms are only required for part-time or low grade employment. Not so: I have been goaded into this today by being asked these questions for a senior team-leader position in a media firm.
I would love to print such a form out, tear it up and send it back to the requester, with an explanation, in an envelope - but there is no postal address given! Clearly we in universities are under a moral responsibility to provide references for our students.
But I would like to see a responsibility laid on prospective employers to ask us sensible questions on the reference forms they demand that we complete for them.
