references how do they work?

makemerich12

Would the new company ask you to provide or go straight to the company? I'm asking because i'd rather give them people i have worked under for years then someone i worked under for a few months

Masomnia

Normally they would ask you, but there's nothing to stop them contacting the company directly.

ohreally

Normally the point of contact will be HR dept.

Takeaway_Addict

ohreally wrote: »

Normally the point of contact will be HR dept.

Only in big companies. Alot of references will be done by owners/MD's etc

TELLIT01

Companies would generally want a reference from a recent employer, not somebody you worked for years ago. If you give previous employers rather than the current or latest, it may raise concerns.
If you worked for one manager for a number of years, and only moved to a different one for a matter of months before this job application, it wouldn't do any harm to indicate to them that the manager you worked for longest might have a better knowledge of you.
Bottom line though is that they can approach anybody in the company, not just the person you name.

makemerich12

Anyway i could find out who is giving my reference? If i'm being lied about i'd like to know

ohreally

Does a prospective employer hold a reference?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Only in big companies. Alot of references will be done by owners/MD's etc

If there is nobody but the owner/MD, then maybe. Even in the smallest company I've ever worked in the last thing they would think of using their time on is writing references. If there's no HR dept then generally whoever does the admin will do it.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

I don't think I have ever been asked to provide a reference. I have no doubt that companies contact previous employers based on the details in my CV, but I have never known anything about it happening before or after. If a company ever reverses an offer based on bad references then that would be the time to worry about this.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Companies would generally want a reference from a recent employer, not somebody you worked for years ago. If you give previous employers rather than the current or latest, it may raise concerns.
If you worked for one manager for a number of years, and only moved to a different one for a matter of months before this job application, it wouldn't do any harm to indicate to them that the manager you worked for longest might have a better knowledge of you.
Bottom line though is that they can approach anybody in the company, not just the person you name.

Personally I think this would raise exactly the same concerns as asking them to go to a previous employer rather than latest.

Just say absolutely nothing about references. They have the details of your previous employers; it's up to them to contact them.

Sanne

It also depends on your current employer's policy - some will only allow HR to provide references on their behalf, though other managers may be willing and able to provide a personal reference.