Ever lost a job offer because of your reference?

[lily1289]

After having been out of the workforce for awhile, i was surprised to find out that most employers nowadays require 3, 4 or sometimes 5 references! So my questions are: do employers really have the time to check all of your references? If they do, have you lost a job offer after they've checked your reference? And another thing i'm curious, have you gotten a job offer without getting your references checked?

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Yes they can and DO check references. During the hiring process, I was told by my current facility (hospital) that they were having difficulty reaching two of my three references. She asked if I could I try to let them know she needed to talk to them about me; if she was unable to reach them she said that she'd need me to provide additional references. One of them contacted me later on to let me know they had spoken with her.

So yes, they are really checking them out.

[neatnurse30]

After working 6 years in a hospital on a medical oncology unit I decided to find a non-hospital job. I just finished 2 interviews. In both cases, I needed to provide at least 2 references, and yes- they did call to check on them. Actually, they wanted references from managers, not just coworkers ( or friends). Recently, my coworker who is also looking for a job, listed me as a reference person; I was called and had to answer a lot of questions about my coworker. So in a summary, yes- references these days are very important. They also do a thorough criminal background on you.

[etaoinshrdluRN]

Employers do check references and I've heard back when references weren't reachable. Also got asked to offer supervisors as references because "I know the people you've listed will say you're a good joe." Don't know that I've lost a job offer because of any reference.

[ninjago]

Yes, they check references. And no, I've not lost a job offer because of it. Try to get references from people who supports you and know your job performance. Good luck!

[noahsmama]

I'm not sure how you'd know if you lost a potential job offer due to your references -- generally employers check your references before they offer you the job. If you don't get an offer, you generally don't know why. Occasionally an interviewer might let you know that one of your references was saying negative things about you, but I don't think this happens very often.

I know my references were contacted prior to me getting the offer for my current job because my previous NM told me when they called.

[lily1289]

Thanks for the reply! What do i do when the two most recent hospitals that i've worked for had closed? I have no idea where my 2 nurse managers are. I've found a few of my coworkers but they don't know either where our bosses are. When i tried to fill out an online application for a hospital, i was asked to put down the name, address and landline phone number of my supervisors and i couldn't put anyone down. I didn't want to put my coworkers as my supervisors since i don't want to lie in my application. So because i couldn't provide the information they wanted, i couldn't submit my application to them

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

One of my jobs nothing was checked, job I just got they sent a survey to 4 people, 2 had to be either teachers or managers, it was like 15 questions that you answered like 1-5 and then 2 fill in the blanks.

[ninjago]

I will still list the supervisors/NM even if the place closed down. IMO, it is not my responsibility to track them down. Maybe you can write next to the facility's name that the place is now closed. Good luck!

[FLmomof5]

The job I recently started did hire a professional company that checked references. I had one reference that they could reach, but was not responsive. I had another that retired from 2 employments at the same time (I didn't know) and her cell was no longer her number! I offered another reference to the private company, but they said that they couldn't take it.

Ultimately, it was reported to my potential employer that they couldn't reach 2 of my references. The hospital HR called me. We were easily able to rectify my non-responsive reference and they allowed me to give another reference to replace the one that retired and "disappeared". I could have lost the offer.

I am lucky that HR worked with me. I love my new job and my coworkers!!!

[Florence NightinFAIL, BSN, RN]

I know a friend who lost a job because the reference bad mouthed her. I can't say much more details but the saying 'don't burn your bridges' comes to play here.

[PlanZ]

Reading this post brings up questions for me also. I went on three interviews for a position in an ob/gyn clinic. My first interview was with HR, then the clinic manager and director of operations, and last the physicians themselves. I thought everything went great but I did not get the job:confused:. And yes, I did send thank you notes. Would it be inappropiate to contact HR and see if I had anything negative in my references or background check? I have a clean record as far as I know. I just would like to know so that I can correct whatever is wrong before I move on in my job search!