Supplying references.....

[Jydo]

A friend of mine is applying to First Scotrail for an office job and the vacancy is asking for a reference from a most recent/current employer. My question is at which part in the selection process does the reference come into it? You don't really want First contacting your current employer as this could lead to difficulties in your current job.

On an un-related issue another friend of mine who was living in London last year applied for a couple of jobs (in Scotland) when he came up to Scotland on a visit, he was planning on moving back up in 3-6 months time & was sounding out a few jobs, when he got back down to London he was pulled into work & given a bit of a dressing down from his current employer as they were contacted by the Scottish company.

Regards

 

[Dynamonic]

I believe most companies request references when they are about to offer you the job.

I asked this very question in an interview after I noticed that an application form asked whether it was okay for my employer to be contacted prior to interview. The interviewer said that references are requested after you are successful in the final stage. (Although this was not for First ScotRail, I'd imagine it should be about the same)

 

[telstarbox]

In general the employer will only contact the referees if they have decided to offer the candidate the job and not before - the job offer will be made 'subject to satisfactory references' to avoid the situation you describe.

Increasingly, companies will only provide a 'factual' reference for current or past employees i.e. they will only confirm that Joe Bloggs worked in X position from dates Y to Z, and will make no comment on the qualities of the employee, to avoid legal action. This means that for a recruiting employer, the reference is of less use than their own application forms, interviews, etc.

 

[Lufcman]

FCC request a reference after an offer of employment is made I think Scotrail maybe the same as the admin is done by Firstgroup

 

[Moonshot]

In general the employer will only contact the referees if they have decided to offer the candidate the job and not before - the job offer will be made 'subject to satisfactory references' to avoid the situation you describe.

Increasingly, companies will only provide a 'factual' reference for current or past employees i.e. they will only confirm that Joe Bloggs worked in X position from dates Y to Z, and will make no comment on the qualities of the employee, to avoid legal action. This means that for a recruiting employer, the reference is of less use than their own application forms, interviews, etc.

This is very true.....interviews nowadays are contructed in such a way as to encourage applicants to display attributes associated with the role. References are almost irrelevant now as previous employers tended just to give the standard one anyway.

 

[RJ]

No comment can sometimes be read to infer that there is nothing good to be said.

Although CBIs and psychometric testing seem to feature in most assessments for railway jobs these days, I can't imagine that references are an irrelevance. If you have dismissals for example on your application (many ask for full disclosure of previous employment) and no ex employer says anything nice, I can imagine that person might be at a disadvantage.