It used to be that letters of recommendation were typically requested only by employees from bosses and from teachers by graduating seniors trying to gain admission to college.  Social media has changed all that.  Today, anyone can give anyone else a recommendation and many do.  Coworker to coworker.  Boss to employee.  Employee to Boss.  Vendor to Customer.  Customer to Vendor.  Manager to another Manager.  Teacher to University.  University to Employer.  Recommendations are everywhere (mostly because of the amazing power of a third-party endorsement).  Indeed, LinkedIn recently added a new tool for recommendations.  Besides allowing one person to post a written recommendation for another person, now LI also allows one person to endorse the specific skills of another person.  This can be invaluable for someone presenting him or herself as an ‘authority’ in a particular topic or area. Continue reading →

It’s been said that past performance is often the best predictor of future behavior.  Show me an employee who has a solid work history — effective, efficient and reliable in past jobs — and I’ll show you an employee that will probably be effective, efficient and reliable in her next job (assuming she is doing the same type of work).  On the other hand, show me an employee who has changed jobs often, was regularly late for work and produced subpar work in his last three positions and I will show you a person who will likely be tardy and ineffective in his next job until he changes jobs again, which is likely to happen quickly. Continue reading →