Unusual not to be asked for references?

breadmonkey

I was lucky enough to be offered a job recently but I was just thinking it's a bit weird that they never asked me for any references.

I contacted them, went for interview, received an offer by email, accepted over the phone, signed an agreement which I posted back to them and then arranged a start date through email.

That's it, no mention of references at all. Is that strange?

Delancey

I suppose it can depend on the position as to whether references are checked. What is the companys business ? What exactly is the job ?

breadmonkey

It's a position as a graduate structural engineer. The company specialises in bridges and is quite small (like possibly only around 20 people).

Delancey

I am surprised that they haven't taken up your references but that isn't nescessarily something to worry about.
If the job was a commission only sales job , mystery shopper , etc then I would be thinking it was a bit dodgy.

matrim

It could also happen that they got an unofficial reference. i.e. they knew someone who worked where you used to and called them to ask about you.

breadmonkey

matrim wrote: »

It could also happen that they got an unofficial reference. i.e. they knew someone who worked where you used to and called them to ask about you.

That's entirely possible as it turns out.

chicken fingers

Also as a graduate they dont really care about your references, really.
I mean, they don't have any real ex boss from an equivalent role to call or anything.

liloldeme

breadmonkey wrote: »

I was lucky enough to be offered a job recently but I was just thinking it's a bit weird that they never asked me for any references.

I contacted them, went for interview, received an offer by email, accepted over the phone, signed an agreement which I posted back to them and then arranged a start date through email.

That's it, no mention of references at all. Is that strange?

Can happen! I am working for a company for 3 years and they didn't ask for my references.

dazberry

A company I worked for demanded 2 references from each previous employer over the previous 2 year period. One guy had had 4 (he was a contractor) and so they wanted 8, all for a 3 month contract. He declined.

Then when I left I couldn't get any form of reference out of then, because I was a ... contractor, and HR knows nothing about you. The next company wanted to do a security check so had to get my accountant to give a reference FFS.

Started a new job last week, one interview, no reference, so easy

D.

pow wow

Not really unusual, there's so little a referee can actually say without fear of it coming back to bite them that they're often not worth the time of effort. Also a lot of places these days will ask for referee details but never collect on them.

doolox

I worked for two multinationals whose official policy was not to hand out references. They could only state that an employee worked for them from start date to finish date and that was it.

References are frought with difficulties because of the adversarial nature of the worker/employer relationship. People are not going to get the whole truth about a certain employee from their previous employer, indeed it is only when you read between the lines that you will get any accurate information about the character of the person being hired.

Lux23

I have never given a potential employer a reference from HR, people I have worked with have always been willing to provide me with a character reference. I was told smaller companies prefer this, HR will often know nothing about you and you can tell by someone's tone of voice what they really think of you even what they are saying is positive.

titanium feather

A friend of mine recently got a job. There was a lot of competition for the position. He was lucky enough to be offered the job, but considering the amount of applicants, he was surprised that they didn't look for references at all (he had listed the details of three former employers/customers on his CV, and stated that more were available on request.)

He found out a few weeks later that, before he had even been asked for interview, the company had gotten in touch with a senior colleague he had worked with under his former employer, to get an "informal" reference. Someone in the company knew this guy, and apparently this is fairly common practice. I suppose you'll get a more honest reference from someone who's not expecting to be asked for one!

Luckily enough, in my friend's case, his former colleague gave him a great reference.

I would be interested to know if it's legal to get references in this way? It could potentially create a lot of trouble for anyone looking for a job, while still working for another company?