Refernces While Still Employed

Diceicle

Hello,

Firstly, apologies if this has been asked before but I tried a search and did not see an answer.

My scenario is - I am fully employed and have been with this employer for a number of years.

Currently I am looking to change career and will be doing the usual CV stuff and (hopefully) meeting HR and Hiring Managers in the near future.

References are not on my CV; my intention would be that I would provide references later into any hiring process and my signing with a company would be contingent on my references checking out and everyone being satisfied.

In order to achieve this I still need to give my references the heads up, so as that they dont get an unexpected call from a hiring manager - that could put their nose out of joint.

Using old/previous managers as reference would not be relevant and would also be less impressive on my CV.

How can I have my Managers / Colleagues as references without highlighting the fact that I want out and being sidelined for the rest of my time with this organisation?

Thank you for reading.

Explosive_Cornflake

"References supplied upon request" is quite standard these days.
HR should only ask after an offer stage.

I've done, i.e. been the interviewer, a lot lately and haven't seen one CV with references on it.

Diceicle

Much appreciated for the advice, however the problem I'm trying to bridge is how (or maybe more so, when) to approach manager(s) about a reference.
As mentioned, I wouldn't intend on providing references to a potential employer until I'm further along in an interview process and or just prior to them making an offer. That said, I still wouldn't want those references being called out of the blue, being told by a stranger that Diceicle is leaving their employment - caught by surprise they might not give as good a reference as they might if they are prepared for such a call.

aine92

Diceicle wrote: »

Hello,

Firstly, apologies if this has been asked before but I tried a search and did not see an answer.

My scenario is - I am fully employed and have been with this employer for a number of years.

Currently I am looking to change career and will be doing the usual CV stuff and (hopefully) meeting HR and Hiring Managers in the near future.

References are not on my CV; my intention would be that I would provide references later into any hiring process and my signing with a company would be contingent on my references checking out and everyone being satisfied.

In order to achieve this I still need to give my references the heads up, so as that they dont get an unexpected call from a hiring manager - that could put their nose out of joint.

Using old/previous managers as reference would not be relevant and would also be less impressive on my CV.

How can I have my Managers / Colleagues as references without highlighting the fact that I want out and being sidelined for the rest of my time with this organisation?

Thank you for reading.

I would never put a current employer as a reference. It's just not the thing to do.

I list my references at the bottom of my CV, and I do so for a reason. I'm only out of college just under 2 years so my CV probably isn't all that impressive to prospective employers, and I once read that if you are on the fence, that something as small as a HR Manager needing to email you for your references, they may not be bothered and discard your CV.

When you leave a job, your employer is aware that you'll list them on your CV. If I were you I would bing them a quick email and just ask is it OK for them to be listed on your CV for future reference; that way you are not specifying that you are looking for a new job, but just letting them know.

Closer to the time if you think they are closer to being called, if you have a good relationship with them then you could get in touch and let them know to expect a call.

Faith

Wait until you're contacted and asked to supply details of your references. At that point, tell the person that called you that you'll get back to them shortly, as you need to give your referees the heads up. At that point, you can let your referee know. If HR (or whoever) is checking references, it generally means they're serious about you.

Diceicle

Thanks, I appreciate the replies so far.

I used to have references on my CV which related to my current role, but removed them. I understand the "current" HR thinking to be that 'most people have references' so including them is not a 'must'; also I dont want my employers getting an unexpected phone-call - so I think it best to omit them until further in the process.
Also, if I were to request that my employers appear on my CV, it sends a signal to them that I have one-foot out the door, so even though I could still be in my role for a number of months (or years, yuck) I would effectively be side-lining myself.

seamus

Yeah, as others have said, basically if you're using your current manager as a reference, then you don't give anyone their name and number until there's an offer on the table.

If a potential employer were to ring up your company and say, "Hi, I'm looking to speak with whoever is the manager of Diceicle", then there would be a lot of questions for them to answer.