Unprofessional?

collegeme

How unprofessional would it be to approach a client about giving their name as a reference, when obviously your employer doesn't know you are looking elsewhere seriously?

Then lets say you would love to work for said client and the main reason for wanting to change employment is terrible pay and no recognition. Would it be wrong to have this conversation with a client?

Obviously I know its not the right thing to do but im a nice person who feels a little walked over and maybe I need to do whats right for me?


Apologies for punctuation etc. as I am on phone

Nody

The risk is quite high that they would speak with your company about it and you'd be having an awkward discussion with your boss.

Mr. Loverman

If you are simply asking is this unprofessional, the answer is yes.

But I would agree you need to do what's right for you. You only have one life!

davo10

collegeme wrote: »

How unprofessional would it be to approach a client about giving their name as a reference, when obviously your employer doesn't know you are looking elsewhere seriously?

Then lets say you would love to work for said client and the main reason for wanting to change employment is terrible pay and no recognition. Would it be wrong to have this conversation with a client?

Obviously I know its not the right thing to do but im a nice person who feels a little walked over and maybe I need to do whats right for me?


Apologies for punctuation etc. as I am on phone

OP there are a couple of things you may need to consider:

1. Though you may like client during the brief times you interact, there is no guarantee that he / she is nice to work for.
Business people always show there best side during business deals.

2: the client may see you as only someone to do business with and may not nesessarily rate you as highly as you rate him/her.

3. References these days are very important as he will realise he may only bro seeing the best side of you and does not know what kind of an employee you are away from the clients. He would probably want to check that out before giving you a work contract.

4: if you went to work for him, would he then feel uncomfortable doing future business with your boss,

5. Given what you did, would he be concerned that you would do the same with one of his clients.

6. If you ask him and he said "no" or worse, if he told your boss, would he want you dealing with his custom afterwards.


Having said all that, it could be worth the risk, perhaps ask in a whimsical kind of way without being to direct, that way you can make light of it later if you get a negative response.

collegeme

davo10 wrote: »

OP there are a couple of things you may need to consider:

1. Though you may like client during the brief times you interact, there is no guarantee that he / she is nice to work for.
Business people always show there best side during business deals.

2: the client may see you as only someone to do business with and may not nesessarily rate you as highly as you rate him/her.

3. References these days are very important as he will realise he may only bro seeing the best side of you and does not know what kind of an employee you are away from the clients. He would probably want to check that out before giving you a work contract.

4: if you went to work for him, would he then feel uncomfortable doing future business with your boss,

5. Given what you did, would he be concerned that you would do the same with one of his clients.

6. If you ask him and he said "no" or worse, if he told your boss, would he want you dealing with his custom afterwards.


Having said all that, it could be worth the risk, perhaps ask in a whimsical kind of way without being to direct, that way you can make light of it later if you get a negative response.

Thanks for all of your input. I suppose it's very hard to describe the exact situation. I have worked with said client extensively for past few years and I honestly know exactly what they are like to work for.

I was first main point of contact between my employer and client and the client rated me so highly, that they constantly praised me to my employer and I genuinely felt their praise. As a result, my employer has received much more important work from them. I have since moved to another department (i wanted more experience in an area i was unfamiliar with) and someone less experienced was put on the job. There have been major mistakes, as this person is out of their depth. Although I've been fixing the mistakes, my employer is none the wiser. They should never have put someone so inexperienced on a job like this.

I'm probably not going to ask her for a job, but to simply ask her for a reference. I would see myself at some stage in the future seeking a job with her.

Mr. Loverman

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I would find it very strange (and a bit suspicious) if a customer of mine told me they are looking for a new job and want to use me as a reference.

I really think you should avoid doing this if you ever intend on trying to work for them.

collegeme

Thanks for your honest input. I honestly don't know what to do.
I suppose I probably won't as I just can't see myself doing so. If I was anyway a bitter or nasty person, I would be gone from my current place a long time ago.

Maybe I will come back to said client further down the road to ask if a position ever arises, I would love them to consider me.

Mr. Loverman

collegeme wrote: »

Maybe I will come back to said client further down the road to ask if a position ever arises, I would love them to consider me.

I think that would be the best thing to do.

Try to imagine it from their perspective:

If you were working for them and you secretly asked one of their customers can you use them as a reference because you are looking for a new job, how do you think they would feel?

silja

Big difference in asking them to consider you if they have an opening, or asking them for a reference.
Also, never bad mouth your current/ past employer to future boss- it wil make you look worse than him.