Discussing a reference with your boss
English |
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| Ms Andersson: | Hello, Mr Braun. I would like to talk to you about my work reference. Do you have time at the moment or should I come back to you later? |
| Mr Braun: | Hello, Mrs Andersson. I have time now. Please take a seat. What would you like to discuss? |
| Ms Andersson: |
Thank you, Mr Braun. (Trainee sits down) I would like to talk to you about my employment reference which I received yesterday. I will be leaving soon and I really enjoyed the work here. I am generally satisfied with my reference as well but there are a few points which I would like to discuss with you. |
| Mr Braun: | Yes, of course. Which points? |
| Ms Andersson: | I supported my colleagues in daily administration here during my internship. I was involved in a market research study for the Swedish market. Unfortunately the market study is not mentioned in the reference which I received from you yesterday. Would it be possible to add this point to the document? |
| Mr Braun: | That`s right. You really did some great work on the market study of your home market. I forgot to include it. Please give me your reference back. I´ll change it accordingly and issue a new reference. Is the rest of the reference OK? |
| Ms Andersson: | There´s one more thing: you wrote that I made an effort to be punctual. That sounds like I wasn’t always on time. But I always arrived punctually! |
| Mr Braun: | Mostly but not always. Punctual means that you are here at 8 o’clock when we agree on 8 o’clock. You were often a quarter of an hour late and your colleagues sometimes had to wait for you. That is not OK. |
| Ms Andersson: | I understand. So you really can’t change the reference? Maybe you could formulate it differently so that it doesn’t sound so negative otherwise I won’t be able to use the reference for job applications. |
| Mr Braun: | Good, I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t make any promises. Do you have any other requests for changes? |
| Ms Andersson: | No, everything else is fine. |
| Mr Braun: | Good. You can collect your new reference from me at 10 o’clock tomorrow. |
| Ms Andersson: | Thank you very much. I’ll be punctual this time. |
| Mr Braun: | Good. |
| Ms Andersson: | Thank you for taking time for me, Mr Braun. |
| Mr Braun: | But of course, Mrs Andersson. If you need anything else please do not hesitate. |