Q. We got burned by a business manager we hired. She came complete with a resume that listed all the skills we needed, a confident attitude and four glowing reference letters.

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She'd just been let go along with all her co-workers from an organization that abruptly went out of business. She seemed fairly shattered by the experience and told us that she'd moved up to Alaska from California because she's worked for two employers that she'd really liked but both had been borderline endeavors and each had gone under.

During her interview, she said her former employer gave her lots of trust, but admitted that she blew up on her last day because she realized he'd used her to disguise the truth from all employees that the end was so near. She said he was corrupt and asked us not to call him as he'd only say she had a temper

Because she interviewed so well, passed a criminal and civil background check, had such strong reference letters and because we were in a rush get someone in place, we made the mistake of hiring her. Once she came aboard we found out she lacked essential computer skills. She could work QuickBooks but that was about it. We didn't pick this up at first and she covered it by insisting on snail-mailing all invoices because she didn't "trust" e-mails with accounting information and by claiming her computer was malfunctioning. After $900 in computer repair expenses, we finally understood the problems were all operator error.

Although she claimed to watch out for her employers' best interests, she took us for a ride. As just one example, she asked if she could come in early, work through lunch and leave early each day to make her commute to the Valley easier. Because she claimed she arrived well before 7 a.m., she cost us at least eight hours of overtime weekly.

After a couple months of trying to tough it out because we kept thinking she was working hard and would learn the computer skills she needed, we admitted we'd made a mistake and fired her. What we want to know is -- how did she get those reference letters and how do you check the job history of applicants who worked for bankrupt companies?

A. I've learned never to trust reference letters.

Some employers write honest recommendations. Others write falsely positive letters out of guilt or to stem potential problems from laid-off or terminated employees. Some conflict-averse employers take the easy road out when departing employees press for a glowing recommendation. Further, an astonishing number of applicants "borrow" company stationary and write their own letters.

If you want to hire a solid employee, you need to personally call each reference listed and then call references not provided you by the applicant. In this Internet-accessible age, you can search for a former supervisor by name even when the company has dissolved or the supervisor has left the company. While we urge our clients to conduct background checks to uncover criminal and civil legal problems and phony educational histories, background checks don't replace personal reference calls.

After hearing your story, I did an Internet search for phony references and found CareerExcuse.com, one of several newly birthed Internet sites offering fake work histories and references. These services provide job applicants hard-to-see-through fake references from live receptionists.

Those using CareerExcuse.com can develop a completely fake yet validated resume with prompts such as "choose your career history"; "pick your start and end date"; "get rid of" a 3-year resume gap" and "choose your salary." According to the site, it provides "a real company with a real address and a real 800 number" with "operators standing by" to field prospective employer calls. The site's home page claims "bankrupt companies make a great previous employer" and offers that their "management company" has "dozens of bankrupt companies ...ready to provide any inquirer your desired reference information."

How can employers defend against resume and reference fraud? -- by making extensive reference checking calls and exploring all danger signals before and after hire.

For example, your applicant badmouthed her most recent employer and then asked you not to contact him. By complying, you missed the other side of the story. Was it only bad luck that your applicant worked for three companies that bankrupted? Did she potentially speed these companies on their downward spiral with costs from a business manager who used antiquated work methods and piled up a fat overtime expense? And if you make a mistake -- admit it.

Lynne Curry is a local management trainer, consultant and syndicated columnist. Her advice and opinion column appears Mondays. Questions for her column may be faxed to her at 258-2157 or mailed to her c/o Anchorage Daily News, P.O. Box 149001, Anchorage 99514-9001. Her e-mail is lynne@thegrowthcompany.com.

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