References for new job -

MiseryChastain · 19 July 2018 at 2:49PM

Hello,

I have accepted a new offer of employment elsewhere.

They are asking for two references. They have said that the two references cannot be from the same employer and so you are allowed to provide one employment reference and a personal referee.

I don’t have any previous employers as I’ve been in this job since graduation (5 years ago). To get this job, I had provided references from university tutors who I am no longer in contract with.

Who can I use for the personal reference? I was going to ask a family friend (who is also sort of my friend) to do it as she is a professional (a teacher) – would there be any harm in this or is the implication that a personal referee should have been involved with your instruction / education at some point in your life?

Thanks

MC

TELLIT01 · 19 July 2018 at 5:29PM

A personal reference is a reference from somebody who knows you on a personal level, unlike a work reference which is specifically about how you operate in a work environment. Normally the only exclusion is the use of a family member. A family friend should be fine.

General_Grant · 20 July 2018 at 12:12PM

MiseryChastain wrote: »

Hello,

They have said that the two references cannot be from the same employer and so you are allowed to provide one employment reference and a personal referee.

I was interested to read this.

I'm currently working in an admin role in HR and pointed out that a new recruit had two references which covered the same employer (of about two years) and wondered why they had not gone back to the previous employer (I had found contact details for an appropriate person).

The response from the recruiting managers was that it didn't matter and any way one of them had had both her references from the same organisation - but that had been a big employer and she had worked there for a decade or more.

They also had not realised that one reference had the same job title as the recruit had had there and so it was not actually her manager who was giving that reference, simply a fellow worker (supervisory level).

ohreally · 20 July 2018 at 12:29PM

I'd be inclined to contact your university to provide a reference. Is the prospective employer content to accept a testament from what is effectively your mate, are they asking in what capacity they know you?

Comms69 · 20 July 2018 at 1:30PM

I use personal references quite often, do you have anyone who works in the same field as this job?

MiseryChastain · 20 July 2018 at 2:08PM

Comms69 wrote: »

I use personal references quite often, do you have anyone who works in the same field as this job?

Yes, got loads of mates who do exactly the same job as me at different employers. Could I use them?

Comms69 · 20 July 2018 at 2:16PM

MiseryChastain wrote: »

Yes, got loads of mates who do exactly the same job as me at different employers. Could I use them?

ye why not? Better if they're higher up, but it's all relevant.

References for new job -

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free