References on a CV: Who to Ask, When to Give Them and What to Delete

References are the part of the hiring process most candidates think about last and worry about at the wrong moment. The worrying usually goes into the CV, where references barely matter, rather than into the choice of referee, where they matter a great deal.

Two things are true at once. The line "references available on request" should be deleted from your CV today. And a reference check is one of the last real hurdles between an offer and a signed contract, so the people you name deserve genuine thought.

Delete the references line

"References available on request" appears on an enormous number of CVs and does nothing.

Everyone knows references are available on request. That is what a reference is. The sentence conveys no information, occupies a line, and signals that the document was assembled from a template rather than written.

There is a smaller version of the same problem: a heading called References with nothing under it, or the word "Available" beside it. Same effect, same fix. Delete it, and use the space for a bullet that shows a result, as described in quantifying achievements.

When to actually list references

Almost never on the CV itself. Three exceptions.

When the advert explicitly asks for them. Some public sector and academic applications require two or three named referees as part of the application. Read the instructions and follow them exactly.

When you are applying in a country or sector where it is conventional, discussed below.

When a named referee is itself an asset. If a well known figure in your field has agreed to speak for you and the connection is genuine, that can be worth including. This is rare and easy to overdo.

Outside these, provide references when asked, which is normally at offer stage or immediately before it. Volunteering names earlier is not helpful and creates a practical problem: your referees get contacted for roles you may not even want, and their goodwill is finite.

Choosing a referee

The single most useful principle: pick someone who can answer specific questions about your work, not someone with an impressive title who barely knows you.

Your most recent line manager is the default and the one employers expect. If you cannot use them, be ready to explain why in one sentence, without criticising them.

A previous manager is the standard substitute when your current employer does not know you are looking, which is the usual situation.

A senior colleague, a client, or someone who led a project you worked on all work when a manager is unavailable. What matters is that they observed your work directly.

An academic supervisor is appropriate for a first job or an academic application, and increasingly less appropriate after that.

Two people to avoid. Someone very senior who cannot describe what you actually did, since a vague reference from a director is worse than a detailed one from a team lead. And anyone you have not spoken to in several years, because the call will be awkward for both of you.

How to ask

Ask before you name anyone. This sounds obvious and is skipped constantly.

A short message works: tell them you are applying for a particular kind of role, ask whether they are willing to act as a referee, and confirm the contact details they want used. Give them the option to decline gracefully, because a reluctant referee gives a lukewarm reference, which is worse than no reference at all.

Then brief them when a specific request is coming. Send the job title, a line about the role, and a reminder of the two or three things you worked on together that are most relevant. You are not scripting them, you are saving them from being caught cold and giving a generic answer because they could not remember the project.

Tell them afterwards how it went, and thank them. This is not just courtesy: you will likely need them again, and people who feel used once are less willing the second time.

What employers actually ask

Worth knowing, because it lowers the anxiety considerably.

Most reference checks are shorter and duller than candidates imagine. The common questions are confirmation of dates and job title, whether you would be re-employed, an assessment of reliability and how you worked with others, and sometimes a question about how you handled pressure or a specific responsibility from your CV.

Many large employers have a policy of confirming only factual details: dates, job title, and sometimes salary. This is a legal risk decision on their part rather than a comment on you, and hiring managers know it.

The check that has become more common is verification of the facts on your CV: employment dates, job titles and qualifications. This is where discrepancies surface, and it is why the dates in your document should be accurate rather than tidied, a point made in the education section on a CV.

The current employer problem

The most common practical difficulty: you are employed, you do not want your employer to know, and the natural referee is your current manager.

This is entirely normal and employers deal with it constantly. Say plainly that your search is confidential and that your current employer can be contacted after an offer is agreed, and offer a previous manager or a senior colleague in the meantime. No reasonable employer objects, and an employer who insists on contacting your current manager before an offer is telling you something useful about how they operate.

If you left a job on bad terms, the honest approach is to offer someone else from that period and be ready for the question in a sentence. Do not attempt to conceal an employer, since the dates make it visible anyway, which is the same logic as in explaining employment gaps.

Country conventions

This varies more than most CV questions and matters if you are applying abroad.

United Kingdom and Ireland. Not listed on the CV. Requested at offer stage, often two, and frequently limited to factual confirmation.

United States and Canada. Not on the resume. Provided on a separate sheet when asked, usually late in the process.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland. A different system entirely. The written reference, the Arbeitszeugnis, is issued by employers at the end of employment and is a formal document with conventional phrasing. Candidates attach these to applications, which means the reference travels with you rather than being requested afterwards. If you are applying in this market and have such documents, include them as attachments.

France, Spain, Italy. Generally requested rather than listed, though contact details are sometimes provided on request without ceremony.

Turkey. Naming referees on the CV is a common habit, though not required. If you do, ask permission first, and be aware it is not expected by every employer.

Netherlands and Scandinavia. Requested late, rarely listed.

If you have documents from a system that issues them, keep them, and offer them where they are understood. Do not attach a four page German reference to a UK application, where nobody will know what to do with it.

How to format them when you do provide them

When an employer asks, send a separate document rather than adding a section to your CV. It keeps your CV clean and lets you tailor who you offer to the specific role.

Each entry needs four things: name, current job title and employer, the relationship and period, and one contact method they have agreed to.

Sarah Whitfield Head of Finance, Northgate Ltd My line manager, 2021 to 2024 [email protected] · +44 7700 900000

The relationship line is the part people leave out and the part that matters most, because it tells the employer what this person can speak to. "My line manager for three years" and "a colleague on one project" are both fine, and the reader needs to know which one they are calling.

Two practical points. Use a work email where possible, since a personal address for a professional reference occasionally raises a question. And confirm the details are current before you send them, because a bounced email at offer stage delays everything and looks careless.

Timing, and why it matters

References sit at a specific point in the process and moving them earlier rarely helps.

The usual sequence is application, screening, interviews, offer subject to references, then checks, then a confirmed start date. Offering names during the application stage does not accelerate anything, because nobody calls a referee for a candidate they have not yet interviewed.

There is one real cost to early offers: referee fatigue. If you name the same two people across fifteen applications, some of them get contacted repeatedly for roles you did not pursue, and their willingness declines exactly when you need it for the job you actually want.

The reverse problem is being slow when asked. A request for referee details at offer stage should be answered the same day, with people you have already briefed. Candidates who take a week to produce contact details because they have not asked anyone yet introduce a delay at the precise moment momentum matters, and occasionally a competing candidate signs first.

What to do instead of a references section

If you want your CV to help with references without listing anyone, two things work.

Make your bullets specific enough that a reference confirms them. A referee asked "did she really cut the close from eight days to five" can say yes immediately if it is true and they were there. Specific claims are easier to support than vague ones.

Keep your LinkedIn consistent with your CV, since recommendations and connections there act as informal soft references, and mismatches between the two documents are noticed. That alignment is covered in optimising your LinkedIn profile.

What a strong reference actually sounds like

Two versions of the same call, for the same candidate, differing only in how well the referee was chosen and briefed.

The weak version:

"Yes, she worked here, I think from 2021. She was in the finance team. Good, yes, no problems that I recall. I did not work with her directly, she reported to someone who has since left. She seemed well liked."

Nothing here is negative, and it is still a poor reference. It confirms almost nothing, and the hiring manager comes away with the impression that nobody senior noticed this person for three years.

The strong version:

"She reported to me for three years. She took over the monthly close when we were running eight or nine days and got it to five, mostly by rebuilding the reconciliations rather than adding people. She handled two auditors and a system migration in the same year. She would tell me when a deadline was unrealistic, which I valued. I would take her back tomorrow."

Same candidate, same facts. The difference is that this referee was in a position to observe the work and had been reminded which parts were relevant.

That difference is entirely within your control, and it is made before the call rather than during it. Picking the person who actually saw your work, and sending them three lines of context, is the whole technique.

Frequently asked questions

Should I write "references available on request"?

No. Delete it. It says nothing and takes a line.

How many referees do I need?

Two is standard, three if requested. One is usually not enough at offer stage.

Can I use a colleague instead of a manager?

Yes, when a manager is unavailable or your search is confidential. Choose someone senior enough to be credible and close enough to your work to be specific.

What if my former manager has left the company?

Use them anyway if they will speak for you, giving their current contact details. A person's account of your work does not expire when they change employer. You may also need someone still at the company to confirm dates.

Can a former employer give a bad reference?

They can give an honest one, and in many jurisdictions it must be fair and accurate. In practice most large employers limit themselves to factual confirmation precisely to avoid the risk. If you genuinely expect a poor reference, offer alternatives and address the situation directly rather than hoping it is not checked.

Do I need to tell my referees every time I apply?

Not for every application, but do tell them when you reach final stages so the call does not arrive unexpectedly. A referee caught off guard gives a worse reference than a briefed one.

Should I include a reference letter with my application?

Only where that is the convention, as in the German speaking market, or where the advert asks. Elsewhere an unsolicited letter is read as padding and rarely opened.

Use the space for something that works

The line you free up by deleting "references available on request" is small, and it is worth using well. CvLaunch reads your CV, shows you what an employer's system extracted from it, and flags the bullets that describe responsibilities without ever saying what came of them, which are the lines a reference would struggle to confirm. It takes a few seconds, it is free, and there is no sign up.