How bad those words make you look to your potential employers depends on a few factors :
- How do you know what was said, did your ex-manager tell you?
- Were you asked at the interview why you left that job? If so, is your answer at all compatible with the gist of your ex-managers words?
- Were you asked about doing split shifts for this new job? Did you answer positively?
Honestly, if you did as well at the interview as you think you did, and the only issue is that one incorrect statement from your ex-manager - who otherwise gave an apparently glowing assessment of you - then you should still be in a good position.
The point of a reference check is to corroborate information given by one source. If there's any serious or notable discrepancy, an employer will often just pass in order to avoid the hassle. BUT if an otherwise stellar candidate has a question mark raised during a routine reference check, the most reasonable thing to do is ask about that question mark (either to the reference directly or to the candidate). Sometimes it can even be ignored entirely, but as your issue seems directly related to this job in question, that's unlikely.
If they call to discuss things, just keep calm. Questions aren't bad! You're a step up on most people since you already know what your reference said that rang alarm bells. So take this time to think through how you'll respond.
In any event, I'd be having a nice chat with that ex-manager and getting him on board with a more diplomatic answer for future reference checks.
Yes, my ex-manager texted me that they called him, and I asked what he said. That's when he told me. The interviewer did not ask specifically why I quit. She just saw that I didn't work for a while after the old job and asked me why. I told her that it was because I wanted to take a break to do something new, and also to work on my book. We had a conversation about that and it was pretty implied that that's why I quit? It definitely was part of the reason. The main reason was that the owner of the restaurant from my previous job was mistreating me and I had had enough. Of course, it's bad to speak negatively about your employers, so naturally, I didn't bring that up. So what my ex-manager said my reason was for quitting, was completely different from what her assumption was, and it was basically about me complaining about my shifts, which are very common in restaurant jobs. I wasn't asked specifically about split shifts, but they did ask if I was okay working long hours up to 8, and I said I'm completely fine with it since in my first restaurant job, I used to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I was holding out hope that they'd at least ask me about it, but it has been 2 days since they called my reference, and I haven't heard a single thing from them.
I did have a talk with my ex-manager, and when I told him to just say that I wanted to try something different and focus on my writing for a while the next time he is asked that question, he said that that would make me sound irresponsible.. >.<
- - - Post Merge - - -
To be honest it really depends on what else he mentioned in the reference check and how well you interviewed. When I interviewed people and did their references, and really liked them I would let one or two things slide from the reference based on my gut feeling.
In future though, I would not use him as a reference moving forward. I've done some references where they would straight up tell me not to hire a candidate for x, y, and z reasons.
I'm sure you will get it. To me it sounds like they are just doing a formality with the reference check
Well, everything else he said about me was very positive. But I'm completely screwed if they have split shifts. I know my interview went very well because the interviewer said so, and that she really liked me, and said that they just need to call references because it's their policy before they can move forward with hiring. It's just that saying I quit because I hated split shifts is like a lawyer's reference saying, "He quit his previous job because he doesn't like getting up in front of the court." It's a huge part of the job and if he made it seem like I wasn't willing to do it, then there is no point. I was hopeful that they would still call me to at least ask about it, but it has been two days since they called him, and there were a lot of applicants to choose from.
I wish I didn't have to use him for reference, but unfortunately, I didn't have a great relationship with any of my bosses (they were all bullies), and he is the only manager that wouldn't trash talk me out of spite.
