would it look weird not to use my most recent employer as a ref?

ash2008

Hi everyone,

A company i have an interview with have asked me to bring my references with me to the interview. Id rather they contact two specific referees who i have recently been in touch with and i know they will give me great references. However, neither of these are from my most recent job.

I tried to get in touch with my reference from my most recent job (its been a while since i finished up there and i wanted to check they were still ok to give me a ref, that they remember me etc etc) but i was unable to and they didnt respond to my email either. I was let go from this job due to the recession and they did give me a very nice reference letter...so im stuck on whether to use them or not. Presumably if they wrote me a ref letter, they dont have any problem with me right? But im pretty sure this person still works at the company (their name is still on the company website) so why didnt they get back to me

If i dont give them as a reference though, im worried the company im interviewing for will view that as very suspicious. What do you think...is it ok to pick and choose your references, or should it always be in order of your previous jobs?

tinnuvial

Give them the names of the two other people and a copy of the reference letter from your previous employer. You can say you haven't been able to reach them. If you don't mention your previous employer at all they'll presume you have a bad reference. They will probably try and contact your previous employer anyway.

Ms. Chanandler Bong

Have to say, speaking for myself, I'd be wondering about someone who didn't give their most recent employer as a reference. generally speaking, references are in order of employment history as older employment referees may have moved on from that business. By law, a reference need only state when you started & finished your employment. I know of a multinational company that only takes reference requests by fax & they then fax back a reply with specifically the dates of employment only! Larger companies tend not to check references for lower-skilled jobs, SME nearly always check. Killer question to ask a referee? "Would you employ this person again?" Since they can only tell the truth, & since they're not technically saying anything bad about you, a simple "no" can be all it takes for you to not be offered a job, even if everything else they've said about you was glowing!
I know this doesn't apply to the OP since his last employment ended due to the recession, but if you're still working & also looking for a job, be very specific in your interview about whether they can phone your current employer or not. They're not allowed to do so if you tell them not to!

gerrycollins

I tried to get in touch with my reference from my most recent job (its been a while since i finished up there and i wanted to check they were still ok to give me a ref, that they remember me etc etc) but i was unable to and they didnt respond to my email either. I was let go from this job due to the recession and they did give me a very nice reference letter...so im stuck on whether to use them or not. Presumably if they wrote me a ref letter, they dont have any problem with me right? But im pretty sure this person still works at the company (their name is still on the company website) so why didnt they get back to me

I think this is a very reasonable reason, plus as already said, offer your previous employer and explain the above and that you also have two back up references whom you have gotten a reply from.