Having to put current employer as reference on job application

LegacyUser

Hi all,

Have a bit of a wee problem- I started a job a few weeks ago, that I am over-qualified for and is unrelated to my field of study. However, it's not a bad job, and I just took it to not have a gap on my CV. Trouble is, I've found a few jobs coming up which are perfect for me (in my field of study) but they all seem to want to list your current employer as a reference. The job I'm doing now has very little to do with what I'm skilled/trained in, and aside from just being honest, it really serves no benefit to my application to include it.

What's the protocol here? If they ask me if I'm currently working would it sound bad if I explained that I took an unrelated job a few weeks ago, but didn't feel the need to include as it is fairly irrelevant... or does that look suspect?!

Any advice gladly received!

Mycroft H

Very Confused wrote: »

Hi all,

Have a bit of a wee problem- I started a job a few weeks ago, that I am over-qualified for and is unrelated to my field of study. However, it's not a bad job, and I just took it to not have a gap on my CV. Trouble is, I've found a few jobs coming up which are perfect for me (in my field of study) but they all seem to want to list your current employer as a reference. The job I'm doing now has very little to do with what I'm skilled/trained in, and aside from just being honest, it really serves no benefit to my application to include it.

What's the protocol here? If they ask me if I'm currently working would it sound bad if I explained that I took an unrelated job a few weeks ago, but didn't feel the need to include as it is fairly irrelevant... or does that look suspect?!

Any advice gladly received!

I've never listed a current employer as a referee. Always on request and when the time comes and you're sure of leaving, you can ask them then.

What sort of jobs are asking for them? Even for state job application forms I've put on request there. That said I've never gotten too far with them so maybe that's the problem.....

ZeroThreat

Mycroft H wrote: »

I've never listed a current employer as a referee. Always on request and when the time comes and you're sure of leaving, you can ask them then.

What sort of jobs are asking for them? Even for state job application forms I've put on request there. That said I've never gotten too far with them so maybe that's the problem.....

If you've been with one employer for a decade and your previous employer isn't in existence anymore, what exactly are you supposed to do?

Mycroft H

That's a situation I've not come across before. Perhaps you'd have a former supervisor who's moved on or something like that?

Idleater

ZeroThreat wrote: »

If you've been with one employer for a decade and your previous employer isn't in existence anymore, what exactly are you supposed to do?

I had that, I was still in contact with a colleague from there that was willing to give a reference. It was a perfectly understandable situation, though I was lucky to have access to my colleague.

Berserker

List your current employer OP. No harm in doing so whatsoever. Be honest, you have nothing to hide. Make sure you put a note on your application stating that your current employer should not be contacted until you have accepted an offer for the position in question.

Mycroft H wrote: »

I've never listed a current employer as a referee. Always on request and when the time comes and you're sure of leaving, you can ask them then.

What sort of jobs are asking for them? Even for state job application forms I've put on request there. That said I've never gotten too far with them so maybe that's the problem.....

I have made it to the offer stage for state jobs and I have always noted that I did not want them to contact my referees until we had reached the offer stage in my initial application.

Avatar MIA

Usually when asked for current employer (usually government type jobs - Make of that what you will) you can say not to contact them until later, such as when you are just before job offer stage.

Not even PS HR are so insensitive to contact a current employer without your prior approval.

Edit - same advice above