Asking permission to contact jobseeker’s references

roxane

I have recently started looking for a new job. I put feelers out with a recruitment agent, who has swiftly put me in touch with a company who I have had an initial interview today. It was all going well, with positive feedback on both sides and a second face-to-face interview booked in the diary.

However, I received a text message from the Managing Director of my current employer advising that they have been contacted by this company this evening to provide a reference and wished me well in my next move.

I only supplied an up-to-date CV to the agent. This listed my current employer as very much ‘present day’. It referred only to the company names I have worked for and included clearly at the bottom “references available on request”. Not once did the interviewer or the agent ask for my permission to contact my references. Not once have I provided these names or contact details to them. The prospective employer effectively cold-called my current employer based only on the company name provided on my CV, which was passed on by the recruitment agent.

It has put me in an uncomfortable position. I would have liked to courteously ask for a reference when I had a tangible job offer, as much out of respect for my current employer as for protection of my livelihood.

I am unsure whether to raise my concerns with the recruitment agent, or perhaps even to pull out of the interview process altogether. Am I right to find this alarming and unprofessional?

aife

I think you're right to be annoyed and should talk to the agency about it.
The fact that your current employer messaged you wishing you well without asking why you're leaving or what might make you stay would worry me a bit . Mainly for this reason , i wouldn't pull out of the interview.
On the plus side the fact that they've been so quick to chase references suggests they're pretty keen on you

andygb

Not a good situation at all IMO.
The agency/prospective employer should never contact your current employer prior to offering you a postion.
It happened to me once, and I was left without a job. My employer at the time made me "redundant" (he did in fact replace me), one week after my interview with the other firm.

Up until that time there were no issues at work.

Comms69

roxane wrote: »

I have recently started looking for a new job. I put feelers out with a recruitment agent, who has swiftly put me in touch with a company who I have had an initial interview today. It was all going well, with positive feedback on both sides and a second face-to-face interview booked in the diary.

However, I received a text message from the Managing Director of my current employer advising that they have been contacted by this company this evening to provide a reference and wished me well in my next move.

I only supplied an up-to-date CV to the agent. This listed my current employer as very much ‘present day’. It referred only to the company names I have worked for and included clearly at the bottom “references available on request”. Not once did the interviewer or the agent ask for my permission to contact my references. Not once have I provided these names or contact details to them. The prospective employer effectively cold-called my current employer based only on the company name provided on my CV, which was passed on by the recruitment agent. - Whilst you're morally right to be annoyed. You cant stop two people having a conversation about you.

It has put me in an uncomfortable position. I would have liked to courteously ask for a reference when I had a tangible job offer, as much out of respect for my current employer as for protection of my livelihood. - My policy is to notify my employer when: (internal) i've applied / (external) i've got an interview.

I am unsure whether to raise my concerns with the recruitment agent, or perhaps even to pull out of the interview process altogether. Am I right to find this alarming and unprofessional?

If you find it uncomfortable that's not for anyone else to judge. But you could burn both bridges and be stuck in the middle with nowhere to go.

phoenix1837

All the jobs I have applied for recently have stated that references will be sought if selected for interview, maybe this is common practice now as I know it used to be upon job offer.

roxane

andygb wrote: »

Not a good situation at all IMO.
The agency/prospective employer should never contact your current employer prior to offering you a postion.
It happened to me once, and I was left without a job. My employer at the time made me "redundant" (he did in fact replace me), one week after my interview with the other firm.

Up until that time there were no issues at work.

Thank you for sharing, Andygb. Sorry to hear this happened to you. It’s not a pleasant situation to be put in at all.

Did you carry on with the application process?

roxane

aife wrote: »

I think you're right to be annoyed and should talk to the agency about it.
The fact that your current employer messaged you wishing you well without asking why you're leaving or what might make you stay would worry me a bit . Mainly for this reason , i wouldn't pull out of the interview.
On the plus side the fact that they've been so quick to chase references suggests they're pretty keen on you

Thank you, Aife.

My hesitation in contacting the agent is that I don’t want it to affect my application, which in itself makes me uneasy. Neither do I want to make a mountain out of a molehill.

I won’t receive a bad reference. My current employer is pretty reasonable in realising that I’m ambitious and there is only so far I can go in their company.

roxane

Comms69 wrote: »

If you find it uncomfortable that's not for anyone else to judge. But you could burn both bridges and be stuck in the middle with nowhere to go.

Thanks for this, Comms69. You’re quite right - the last thing I want to do is sabotage both opportunities.

The issue is not the conversation itself, it is that the prospective employer used details given to them in a CV to initiate this conversation without my consent. I am certain that this is a breach the Data Protection Act. It isn’t a professional or discreet way to conduct business. Neither does it suggest that they treat their employees courteously. So maybe it is a pretty precarious bridge anyway that is better off burnt?

roxane

phoenix1837 wrote: »

All the jobs I have applied for recently have stated that references will be sought if selected for interview, maybe this is common practice now as I know it used to be upon job offer.

I feared this behaviour may have become standard practice. It’s a grapple between finding it unacceptable and going along with it to ultimately get the job and continue a career, if that’s what is required.

Piggywinkle

andygb wrote: »

Not a good situation at all IMO.
The agency/prospective employer should never contact your current employer prior to offering you a postion.
It happened to me once, and I was left without a job. My employer at the time made me "redundant" (he did in fact replace me), one week after my interview with the other firm.

Up until that time there were no issues at work.

It's fairly common for jobs in schools for them to seek references even before interview (but at least they let you know this when applying, unlike OP). It's very annoying! I applied for one job recently who asked me in for an interview on Monday morning. The trouble is that they asked me this at 4pm on a Friday afternoon and I finish work at 3pm. They refused to rearrange so I declined the interview and told them to close my application.

I was not impressed on Monday morning when their reference requests came through to my employers anyway. :mad: I now occasionally get asked if I'm still looking for a new job by my manager.

Comms69

roxane wrote: »

Thanks for this, Comms69. You’re quite right - the last thing I want to do is sabotage both opportunities.

The issue is not the conversation itself, it is that the prospective employer used details given to them in a CV to initiate this conversation without my consent. I am certain that this is a breach the Data Protection Act. It isn’t a professional or discreet way to conduct business. Neither does it suggest that they treat their employees courteously. So maybe it is a pretty precarious bridge anyway that is better off burnt?

It's certainly not a breach of data protection.



Do you have for example a LinkedIn? What about a Facebook where you name your employer?


I understand it's not 'the norm', but it's certainly not unheard of.