Dear J.T. & Dale: In 2007, I went to work for a small company. Things were going along fine till the owner said he was going to let me go. I asked why, and all he’d say was, “Just a lot of little things.” I later learned he hired a friend of his to replace me. When I applied for unemployment, I found out he indicated I was discharged for insubordination. I challenged it and won. But now I think he must be telling prospective employers that I was fired for insubordination because, despite having eight years in data management, I can’t get interviews. — Larry

Dale: Picture this: You’re a manager who places a job ad, requiring references, and you get, say, 35 qualified applicants. Let’s assume that each applicant lists three references. Some quick math and — yikes! — you have more than 100 people to try to reach and converse with. Nobody does that. Rather, they choose a handful of people to interview, choose finalists, then make an offer. Near the end of the process — often after a job offer is extended — they get around to checking references. Therefore, a bad reference isn’t going to keep you from getting interviews.

J.T.: True, but it’s going to weigh on Larry’s mind till he gets someone he knows to call the former employer and ask for a reference.

Dale: And odds are, they’ll hear that the company will only verify dates of employment. The old boss may have tried to weasel out of unemployment benefits, but there’s nothing in it for him to create fictions for prospective employers.

J.T.: However, Larry, just in case, here’s how to deal with a bad reference. You select those former employers who’d give you the best references, then ask if they would be willing to defend your character against this last employer. Once you have these allies in place, you can go on the offensive in interviews, explaining why you were let go and how you won your unemployment claim, and while it cost you that recommendation, you have plenty of others who can speak to your strengths.

Dale: Lining up references is a great idea, no matter what the last boss is saying. It gives you a great excuse to contact former managers, remind them of what you accomplished together, ask them to be a reference and also ask for job leads. Doing so, youpropel your search from worrying about the past to networking into your future.

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Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of the consulting firm jtodonnell.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success” (John Wiley & Sons). Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.

© 2009 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.