The career question: How do I cleverly ask for an interim certificate?

It is perfectly legitimate for employees to request a judgment on their performance. However, some bosses react rudely. If you are clever, you use certain occasions in the company to get your personal certificate.

EThere are many good reasons to ask for an interim report on your own performance: some want to test their market value, others want to know what their superiors think of them. Still others are toying with the idea of ​​changing employers. An interim report should clarify one detail in this process: How do I complete my current tasks? A valid question, and yet a delicate matter. After all, anyone who asks for a performance appraisal for no apparent reason will quickly trigger the warning lights on the executive floor. Does the employee intend to resign?

So before employees apply for an interim reference in a hurry, they should think twice about whether they really need it. “For those who want to apply to leave, an interim certificate is not absolutely necessary,” says career advisor Bernd Slaghuis. “Employment references should not be overrated in the application.” Studies support this assessment: Employer references are becoming less and less important in the application process, for example ergonomists at the Ernst Abbe University in Jena have found out. Many human resources managers still regard them as a “pretty accessory” – “especially since employees often write their references themselves. And HR managers know that, of course,” says Slaghuis.