I was disappointed in my annual evaluation. Should I look for a new job?

Question

I had my annual job evaluation in June and it was a pretty upsetting experience. I got marked down in many areas where I thought I was performing just fine, and my supervisors had not said anything to me previously. Even more upsetting is that I feel a lot of my low marks were not accurate, and were based on assumptions, partial truths, rumors, bias, etc. I've thought of looking for a new job, but am uncertain if I should because any prospective employer would contact the HR department for information on my job performance evaluations. How much do prospective employers consider an applicant's evaluations at their current job? What's the likelihood that they would want to hear my side of the story, and how much weight would they give it? Thanks.

Answer 1

Your job performance evaluations are PRIVATE. They will NOT be shared with other organizations. If you apply to another company and get passed the point of an interview (very difficult in this job climate), the potential employer will call your previous organization and be told only your start date, your end date and your job title. That's it.

On applications, you will be asked the name of your current supervisor. There will be a box that says, "May we contact this person?" Say no. That will *not* automatically discount you as a potential employee -- there are all sorts of legitimate reasons someone doesn't want a supervisor contacted. What you do need to find is someone at the company who would serve as your reference -- this can be a co-worker. That's the person who you are giving the company permission to contact about your job performance -- YOU control who that person is.

You need to get a professional, SHORT story together for potential interviews when asked, "Why do you want to leave your current position?" You can say, "I feel that there is no room for me to advance at this organization" or "I would like an office culture that's more people-focused than bottom-line focused" or "I just felt that I had gone as far as I could and I was ready for a new opportunity."  

Answer 2

You would probably be better off to meet with your supervisor, and ask why you were given such low marks.  Ask for specific details about incidents, assignments, etc.  Ask to work out a plan to improve your performance now, to prepare for next year's evaluation.  And then follow the plan, and meet with your supervisor every month or two at first to see how well you are doing.

Then look for a new job.  The market is lousy now in a lot of places.

Answer 3

It sounds like you work for a relatively large company with a full HR department.

My experience has been that most former employers, when contacted about an employee will not tell much more than the dates you worked there and your last position.  The reason for this is that employers have been sued, successfully, by former employees who were given a less than stellar evaluation on the background check, even though the evaluation was completely accurate.  And even A+ employees have sued because their former employer didn't give them a super-positive evaluation.  Many former employers will not even tell the inquiring potential employer if a person was fired for cause (i.e., stealing), again because they're afraid of being sued.

I can't say that ALL employers will just give dates and last position held, but that is what I got about 75-80% of the time during the ten years I was doing personnel work the the USPS.  IF they responded at all; some didn't.

Answer 4

Where I work, the only info they will give out is dates of employment.  Anything that is based on judgment, is open to litigation.  Most companies are adverse to getting into protracted law suits I guess.  

Now, if you volunteer information, that's another story.  I'd just say I was looking for better opportunities as the reason I was seeking employment.  Otherwise, you get into a "he said, she said" situation.  And people might not view this as a good thing.