Referee asking for job description

Hillbilly1

HI

I'm in what I think is a bit of an odd situation.

I left my last job for health reasons. They weren't a great employer for helping with issues like that so I felt it best to leave, which they made very difficult. This was 2015.

As part of the process of leaving I asked about about a future reference. I was told they only give confirmation of name and dates worked and would give a reference if I requested one.

I have asked for a reference and was told "if you send a job description I'll review it"...

I don't think a previous employer needs a JD prior to saying they will give a reference? If the new employer wants information surely they will ask for it? I've also had it confirmed that this is not the way they have dealt with previous reference requests.

I don't want to use them but as a recent employer with a decent length of time on my CV feel it will look odd if I don't use them?

What should I do?

Undervalued

Hillbilly1 wrote: »

HI

I'm in what I think is a bit of an odd situation.

I left my last job for health reasons. They weren't a great employer for helping with issues like that so I felt it best to leave, which they made very difficult. This was 2015.

As part of the process of leaving I asked about about a future reference. I was told they only give confirmation of name and dates worked and would give a reference if I requested one.

I have asked for a reference and was told "if you send a job description I'll review it"...

I don't think a previous employer needs a JD prior to saying they will give a reference? If the new employer wants information surely they will ask for it? I've also had it confirmed that this is not the way they have dealt with previous reference requests.

I don't want to use them but as a recent employer with a decent length of time on my CV feel it will look odd if I don't use them?

What should I do?

Unless it was formally agreed as part of a settlement agreement they are not obliged to provide a reference at all. So, if you want them to give one you will have to do as they ask.

TELLIT01

On the face of it the request is unusual, but we don't know what the prospective employer requested by way of information in the reference. Maybe they have asked for ability to undertake certain tasks and your previous employer wants to clarification before responding.

ReadingTim

This isn't really your problem to be honest. You don't ask them for a reference, and they don't send it to you - you merely ask if they would provide one (if asked) and if they agree, you pass their details to your new employer. What happens between the 2 of them really isn't worth getting worked up about!

Many companies only ever provide statements of employment, confirming dates employed. Furthermore, most requests for a reference take the form of yes/no questions which are bland: were they generally punctual? was their work up to the required standard? etc... There's very little room for it to be personalised, not least for fear of legal action if a "bad" reference is given. Some companies might not even respond...

I would just supply their details to the new place, leave it at that and not worry unless the new company indicated there was a problem...

getmore4less

You should not be giving out the new companies job descriptions to anyone.

(exception may be to get legal opinion.)

Hillbilly1

Thanks for the quick replies.

To be clear - I have asked if I can use them as a reference and they started asking for job descriptions... This was NOT a discussion between the previous employer and a potential new employer, simply me asking if I could put their name forward to be contact in the future.

I think its very weird, and didn't use them then but wonder if I should use them in a new application?

ReadingTim

Depends on what the new application asks for. I've had roles where I've been asked for details of all roles held/companies worked for in the last 7 years. Given that for the early companies in that history, most of the people who were there at the time I was there had moved on since, I can't imagine these reference requests came back with anything useful - it's simply a tick in the box...

Most places ask for a couple, usually the most recent, and I'd suggest that not giving the 2 most recent looks a little odd.... The only way you could avoid giving their details would be to omit them from your CV, but then that puts a gap on your CV, which should also be avoided.

Like I say, I wouldn't worry about it - just provide their details to any new employer who asks and let the two of them sort it out.

Hillbilly1

Undervalued wrote: »

Unless it was formally agreed as part of a settlement agreement they are not obliged to provide a reference at all. So, if you want them to give one you will have to do as they ask.

I don't agree and think that asking for a job description before you have been formally approached by the people requisition the reference is very odd.

Undervalued

Hillbilly1 wrote: »

I don't agree and think that asking for a job description before you have been formally approached by the people requisition the reference is very odd.

You may find it "very odd" or at least unusual but what I said is a statement of fact!

What I am staying is that, in the absence of a formal undertaking to supply an agreed reference, they can supply one or not on their own terms. So, if they want to see a job description before writing a reference they are perfectly entitled to ask.

Hillbilly1

Thanks Undervalued, but I am not asking them to write a reference, but purely to put there name forward so a potential employer could contact them to ask for information. If a JD needed to be viewed I would expect it to be then not several weeks in advance and as has been said should I be sharing that info?

BorisThomson

I think there has been some confusion. It sounds like they think you are asking them to give you a reference for a particular role, whereas you are asking if you can put their name down and then they will be contacted if you get the role. What they mean is, they will give you a reference when needed, but they'll need to see the job description to do so.

This isn't that unusual, I've seen it in NHS management and in academia. When a new employer asks your referee to comment on your suitability for a role, it makes sense that they know what the role entails. There's nothing sinister about it, and for most openly advertised jobs the job description is available to anyone.