The best reference I have ever received

Over my years in recruitment, I have kept things which have amused me. As it is the height of the holiday season, I thought I would share one of these with you. This reference dates back to the mid eighties when people were prepared to be a lot more detailed than is now the case. It was written by the Chief Executive about a temp I had sent to him. I have referred to the temp as Mary Smith, which is not her real name. Grab a coffee and enjoy!

"Mary Smith was employed by this Group on a day when we must all have been out of our minds.

She successfully persuaded our Financial Controller that she could count, convinced a senior director, who happened to be visiting from Australia, that she had at least a rudimentary knowledge of our industry and even caused our very astute Company Secretary to take notice of her presence.

Having cunningly overcome these hurdles, she then persuaded our Personnel Manager as to her level headedness, ability to get on with people and all that stuff berfore being paraded before me to give the final "nod". For some reason, my usual perceptive skills eluded me in a weak moment and before we knew where we were, she had taken over.

Not that I minded much. The division she joined had over 200 people on the payroll, complex private and government clients supported by a great heap of assorted papers stuffed in the bottom drawer of the table we laughingly called a desk, which she occupied in the general office.

You've guessed. It didn't take long for the drawer to empty, payroll and the previously sulking computer made a pact of peace and customers quickly realised how dangerous it could be if they didn't pay us in less time than it takes to open an invoice and write a cheque. Not content with that, she then promptly took over the whole third floor of our somewhat congested building and settled down a bit.

Fortunately for us, she has decided on returning to Australia in a week or two. I must confess my managerial skills still show the result of her presence because in a weak moment I suggested, without even being asked mind you, that she had better attend our Sydney office for an interview pretty soon after arrival. Come to think of it though, my very generous reason for doing it was to save the rest of the Southern Hemisphere from what I've had to go through. 

She is an excellent, reliable, loyal lady. We will miss her."