Ok to hold off on telling my references
I filled out an electronic application for a job today. Have an interview next week. On the application, they ask for references, but say that the company will inform me prior to contacting my references. Do companies generally abide by this rule? I know that you are supposed to give your references a heads up every time you give out their information, and I absolutely hate bothering them every time I have an interview. Does this mean that in this case, I can put off telling my references until the company informs me they are going to start the background check? I think they wouldn't even mention it if they didn't adhere to this policy, but just wanted to double check. I just hate having to constantly e-mail my references yet another job description, and if there is a way to avoid this at least in this instance until I am absolutely sure the company intends to call, that would be great.
Who told you that you are supposed to give your references a heads up every time you give out your information? I never do. If I did, I' d be calling mine all the time. First of all, I never had any of my references call me to say that they have been contacted by any companies, and I have been interviewing since December 2005. The only one that I know did check was the employer I worked at from March 2004 until December 2005. I know he called the the President of the company I worked for from 1990 until 2003, because he told me so. I wouldn' t worry. If you need to notify your references, wait until the company contacts you. I really don' t like when a company requests references before the interview even happens. I usually won' t give out that info until the time of the interview or after. I don' t think they have any business contacting your references before you have even been to the company for an in person interview and decided if you even want the job or not. Of the last two times I applied for a job my references were called once. That' s 50% and the other time, it was a networked, inside job. One of my references already worked there. I think it' s fairly common, I' d always call them. They called me right away, told me so and so called about me and that they lied, said I walked on water, could turn water to wine, all the usual stuff. I only use old friends as references. We have sort of a club, it' s a small industry. This networking really is great! As a reference giver, I appreciate getting a heads up for a couple of reasons. First, I get a lot of cold calls from sales reps. They are annoying and waste my time and I usually let them go to voicemail. If I know someone is calling me for a reference, I am more likely to pick up the phone. I also like to know about the position to which you applied so I can gear my answers towards that position in order to help you get the job. So along with just knowing someone will call, I like to get the job description and the gist of how the interviews have gone so far. As for when you should let your reference know, if you can email them I would do so now. It only needs to be a short email: "Just wanted to let you know that I filled out an application at XYZ Company and needed to include my references. They are supposed to let me know when they will call so I will give you a heads up when that happens. I appreciate your letting me use you as a reference and if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know." You never know when a reference may know someone in the company and may have some insight to help you get the job. | |
|
Career Tips
|