References

Coney Island

Hi,
I just got a new job, I received the new contract will all the T&Cs, and I am about to sign it and send it back to the HR department of the new company.
Although the contract has already been sent to me and we have reached a verbal agreement, the HR department of the new company sent me an email yesterday asking to provide my references, I believe this would be one the managers I had within my current job. I thought asking for references was suppose to be done at an earlier stage.
It is not a big deal, on Monday I will ask my ex manager to talk to them and hopefully he will be supportive, although I am leaving the company...but you never know....
What type of question will the HR department of the new company I just got the job for ask to my ex manager?

Thanks.

emertoff

Congrats on the offer:D
Usually reference checking does happen at the end of the process. There is no set format. I worked as a Team Lead before and got several calls from companies looking for references. Things commonly asked are your attendance/punctuality record, any issues with sickness/stress,confirming the dates for which you worked for them and why you left, your ability to get on with others blah blah blah. On some occasions companies may send a reference form to your referees asking them to rate your performance across a range of issues, although this is less common. It depends on the thoroughness of the person doing the checking. Don't worry about it.

WhiteWashMan

yeah, i had a contract and then they asked for my references, so i gave them 3 of my current colleagues, a formare colleague, one of my supply account managers and one of my customers.
thought that would give them a good all round picture.

what they ask could be completely different. they may just want to know what you said is true, you did work at joe bloggs for x years, and did y job
or they could ask about your performance, your attitude, how you did your job, tardiness etc.
i guess it depends on each hr dept.

Sposs

Just in realation to references ,what happens if you have a reference on your CV of a person that no longer works for your old company?

emertoff

Originally posted by Sposs
Just in realation to references ,what happens if you have a reference on your CV of a person that no longer works for your old company?

It shouldn't matter provided you still have some way of getting in contact with them.
Either that, or try to contact the HR Dept or someone within the company who knew you.

Kobie

Better still don't put references on your CV - just say "References available on request". That way you have full control over who they talk to and when.

A lot of agencies will also use your references as a way to cold call companies looking for new business, so only give them directly to your new employer whenever possible.