"May we contact present employer for a reference?" Damned either way?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I need some quick advice on this small point. I’m in the wonderfully fun and exciting position of looking for a new job and one of the places I’m looking is a major university with this extensive online application process where you don’t have the option of leaving certain fields blank (e.g. salary requirements, which I hate having to state before at least getting to an interview).

But the one field that has me most concerned is the “May we contact your current employer for a reference?” drop down menu, which only allows 2 options (and “certainly, once I know that I’m a strong enough candidate for this or other positions such that I am comfortable with my current employer knowing I’m seeking employment elsewhere” isn’t one of them).

I have no reason to think my employer would give me a bad reference in general, even though he is a spineless, ineffectual, self-serving worm who may very likely turn resentful and vindictive when confronted with the sudden realization that I’m leaving him to his own mess.

I mean, if I know I’m being strongly considered for a position elsewhere, I’d gladly confront my boss amicably and I’m sure all would be well. It’s the “surprise!! all this time while you thought your employee was working hard for you, he was actually spending most of his time sending resumes to us” phone call I worry about.

But, of course, answering “no” to this question on a job application would seem to raise all kinds red flags.

So my question to all of you is: Is it typical for a potential employer to view a resume and start dialing referrences before even contacting me? Or is this simply just info they’re eventually going to want anyway, so why not gather it all now and use it later in the process?

Would answering “no” raise red flags?

2

I can only speak for the hiring decisions I was in on, which were for the most part in the legal and publishing fields.

NO, this will not raise a red flag. In many, many businesses, bosses who hear an employee is looking elsewhere will fire that employee, and this is well known. If we weren’t going to offer a job we certainly didn’t want the applicant to get fired (or, really, even if we were going to offer a job).

For me personally, if I ever get to have hiring input again, the opposite, “Sure, contact my present employer, no problem,” would raise the red flag. Because this person might be given a sterling recommendation only because the current employer wants said employee out of there. Yes, this has been known to happen.

3

I’m in the process of changing jobs and I gave my current employer as a referee. I was upfront with her and told her I’d applied for another position.

My position may have been different than yours, the new job offered me some things that my boss was unable to, so although my current employer isn’t happy about my leaving, she recognised the sense of my doing so.

However, I have a very good relationship with my current boss, and because of that, I felt that I owed her honesty, and it worked in my favour. Had I not been successful in this application, it wouldn’t have told against me staying in my job.

Having sat on a number of interview panels, in the past we would only have contacted referees for the favourite candidate, post-interview. More recently it became habitual to contact referees for all the short-listed candidates (i.e. those we intended to interview).

I imagine that your employer will only be contacted if you are a favoured candidate, however, is there a contact number you could call to ask about this? Most advertised positions will have a contact number for further information, and it would be worth a call to clarify their procedures.

In the event that they will call regardless, I think it’s likely to be better for you if you tell your boss that you have applied. You don’t have to tell him you’d do anything to get out of there, but you could say that although you hadn’t planned on leaving, this really terrific job came up which you thought you owed it to your career to apply for.

People do change jobs all the time, and most employers should realise that and be reasonable about it. I don’t know about your situation, but it costs money to hire and induct new staff, so if you’ve got someone in a position, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to sack them just because they applied for another job.

In the event that you think your boss is likely to be unreasonable, say “no”. If you are well qualified for the position, I don’t think that would tell against you … they probably realise that it’s a difficult situation to be in.

4

I’ve hired many people over the years and answering ‘no’ on that doesn’t really influence my hiring decisions. It’s understandable that you might not want your current employer to know you’re looking.

One caveat: If you say they CAN contact your current employer you’d better damn well prepare your current employer for the call.

5

As a hiring manager, no, I have no problem with this. Pretty much for the reasons Jonathan Chance gave. It should not be a problem. Most people don’t want their boss to know that they are looking - yet.

6

Another vote from someone who’s done hiring – nope, it’s not a problem that you don’t want your current employer to know you’re looking. Once you’re talking about an actual offer, things might be different, but in the early stages, it wouldn’t raise a red flag.

7

I can’t imagine anyone answering yes, unless they are working at an internship or a contract position with a clear ending date.

You’d most likely be very much on your boss’ shit list if you didn’t get the other job you applied for. Plus, if you had to lie to get the time off for the interview…

8

The only time anything similar raises a red flag for us is if the applicant doesn’t want any previous employers contacted. That leaves a funny impression.

But present employers? No big deal. If we do contact, even with permission, we only do a verification of employment. It is indistinguishable from a credit check, say from a bank.

9

Ok, the consensus is that “no” is the safer way to go.

I’ll probably update and submit the application Monday.

Thanks for your responses!

10

Another vote for it’s okay to say no. However, if they do want to hire you, you will probably have to provide a reference, if only for a background check. In that event, I would provide an HR contact at your current employer. They’re prevented by law from blasting you to a new employer and can only provide information verifying your current employment and salary. Your boss, on the other hand, while he or she isn’t supposed to provide an extremely negative reference, if he or she is the vindictive sort, could give a “personal” reference off the record that might be negative.

11

I have hired a few people in my day and I would look at that and say “He probably doesn’t want to get fired.”

At anycompany, during a down economy especially, management is more likely to cut someone who is already looking elsewhere.

Firing people is hard and this makes it easier to rationalize. “Well, it Smith doesn’t want to be here anyway…goodbye Smith!”

I’ve seen it happen.

12

Another vote for okay to say “no.”

Some people say “yes,” but generally only when they’ve already announced they’re leaving (e.g. they’re relocating in a few months, etc.)

13

It’s definitely fine to decline and it won’t hurt your chances.

The one exception in my life was when my place of employment planned to move my entire department to another city in a few months. I told them that there was no way I would be relocating. They told me that I was welcome to stay with them until the move or I found another job and that they would be happy to provide a reference.

14

Most larger companies are restricted to what they can give for a reference and you’re lucky if you can get them to confirm just the dates of employment and what position the candidate was in.

15

Recently, a friend of mine referred me for a position at the company she works for. My company works somewhat closely with theirs so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch. I knew the resume had been submitted but hadn’t heard from them yet. Then I heard from an inside source that they had contacted someone to ask about me even though I’d never filled out any application and hadn’t even spoken to anyone yet. Who did they call?

The CEO of my company. :smack:

16

Most companies will only give out basic information: Yes, he works here and he’s worked here for X years. An employer opens themselves up for all kinds of legal trouble if they say things that may or may not affect your chances of getting employement.

There are other reasons that people need to verify employment. Credit inquiries are common. I wouldn’t worry about it. Tell the prospective employer you don’t want your current boss to know you’re looking, but that they can verify that you indeed work there. They will understand.

17

In the past, I’ve always checked off “no” on job applications, and as far as I know, that’s never hurt me.

Employers generally don’t expect you to say, “Sure, go ahead and call my current boss,” especially if you’re applying for a job at a rival company.

The only time you should check “yes” is if you’re making a wholesale career change. For instance, if you’ve been a waitress or a stock clerk during your 4 years in college, but have now graduated and are ready to move on to a more serious, professional job, by all means say “Yes, contact my previous employer.”

Otherwise, say no. The company you’re applying with will understand.

18

This could also work to your advantage in today’s labor market. If they think of you a highly regarded employee, they may proactively take steps to ensure you don’t consider another offer.

19

I’m very relieved to see such unanimity. I will definitely be responding in the negative.

Thanks!