3 ms·

1) Your professional references may be better qualified for the role than you This is pretty far fetched. Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back li

by tqi 8y ago

1) Your professional references may be better qualified for the role than you This is pretty far fetched. Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back like that probably isn't someone you should list as a reference. Also nothing about being done with the last interview prevents the company from going behind your back like that anyway... 2) You’re giving the recruiter something of great value in exchange for very little In my experience I have never seen house recruiters who add contact info for reference checks into the recruiting CRM. It seems like the kind of idea that sounds great/effective in theory but in practice is too much hassle. Maybe this only applies to 3rd party firms? 3) You may burn your references I don't think you should ever hand out contact info for someone (email/phone #/etc) without clearing it with them first, full stop.

hardlianotion 8y ago
No need to assume nefariousness on behalf of the reference. Most shady recruiters will just tell you a friend referred them.
- tqi 8y ago
  True. I guess the author's advice really should have been "don't give out reference info without checking with the people first", but that probably doesn't make it to the top of HN
ghostly_s 8y ago
> This is pretty far fetched. Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back like that probably isn't someone you should list as a reference. Also nothing about being done with the last interview prevents the company from going behind your back like that anyway... Presumably some of these shady recruiters might pitch the position to your reference without even telling them they are calling on your behalf in the first place. Based on my meager experience with recruiters, I would not put anything past them. > Maybe this only applies to 3rd party firms? I read the article as primarily applying to 3rd-party recruiters.
SteveNuts 8y ago
> Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back like that probably isn't someone you should list as a reference Well, the recruiter may cold call them without mentioning that they had talked to you previously. They're searching for leads.

by tqi 8y ago

hardlianotion 8y ago

No need to assume nefariousness on behalf of the reference. Most shady recruiters will just tell you a friend referred them.

tqi 8y ago
True. I guess the author's advice really should have been "don't give out reference info without checking with the people first", but that probably doesn't make it to the top of HN

ghostly_s 8y ago

> This is pretty far fetched. Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back like that probably isn't someone you should list as a reference. Also nothing about being done with the last interview prevents the company from going behind your back like that anyway... Presumably some of these shady recruiters might pitch the position to your reference without even telling them they are calling on your behalf in the first place. Based on my meager experience with recruiters, I would not put anything past them. > Maybe this only applies to 3rd party firms? I read the article as primarily applying to 3rd-party recruiters.

SteveNuts 8y ago

> Anyone who would be willing to go behind your back like that probably isn't someone you should list as a reference Well, the recruiter may cold call them without mentioning that they had talked to you previously. They're searching for leads.