PeterM
Shockingly Unprofessional Professional Service
I've received two reference check requests through this company in the past year or two and find their lack of technical competence and professionalism appalling given the service they purport to provide. Both checks were for senior, seasoned professionals and I like to think that my C.V. says the same of me. I won't dwell on the perfunctory, superficial nature of the questions - most of which are more befitting a grade school report card than a significant employment decision - or the fact that Sterling's poorly designed web form demands long-form answers in addition to a radio button select on such probing questions as "Were there any issues with this person's attendance or punctuality". Personally, I think this nonsense reflects just as poorly on the people who hire Sterling Backcheck. I can only assume that they do so out of some policy requirement to demonstrate independent due diligence - no matter how lame and ineffective - at minimal cost. My beef with Sterling today was that, 5 hours after I took the time to submit the sort carefully considered and nuanced responses that I would want to receive were I the hiring manager, I received an email informing me that, due to some unexplained technical issue, they could not read my responses. I know that the system received content because, as noted, it complained about empty text in the fields where I felt the radio button response was sufficient. The email repeated the same questions (without the apparently superfluous radio buttons) in text and asked me to reply with my answers. I tried calling the individual whose name appeared on the email at the Langley, British Columbia phone number provided. The number provided was, of course, a general switchboard number and the person I eventually reached through the call tree demonstrated neither the ability nor the interest in connecting me with the individual whose name appeared on the email. If this isn't offside of the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation rules, it is strikes me as offside of the spirit. I will, out of professional courtesy and personal respect for my former colleague, waste more time writing thoughtful answers to Sterling's uninspiring questions and will send back the completed email. I doubt anyone will take the time to insert them into whatever database they tell their clients they maintain. I take only a small degree of solace in the certain knowledge that, if the slacker who sent me the email isn't a bot, s/he will soon be replaced by one. This is a (dis)service that benefits absolutely no one.