Refence Letter

vector

I'm finishing my job with employer x soon. Before I leave should I ask him to write a vague "to whom it may concern" refence letter on his headed paper that I can take away? something like vector was always on time, etc etc

OR

Are refence letters a wast of time, would my prospective future employers prefer to actually contact employer x.

EDIT: sorry for the mispelling, it should be reference

Random

From my (somewhat limited!) experience it's better to provide a phone number or other contact details in request. A letter could be written by anyone, and there's not that much trust in "documents" these days as once was.

Eoin

What area of work are you in? In my experience, a reference like the one you are talking about isn't really worth all that much. Are you moving to a new job? If so, then you must have gotten that job without a reference from your current job.

I presume your boss knows you are leaving at this stage - have you asked him if he is allowed to give a reference? can be a problem in some places to say anything other than "I can confirm that Mr X worked here from a to b".

As ciaranfo said, a contact name and number is much more desirable, as a prospective employer would probably much prefer to talk to someone rather than take a letter at face value.

LDB

No Harm in having a written reference if they are giving it I wouldn't say no
Most employers will phone but its always a good sign to have something you can give in writing too