Job applications requiring past supervisor references
Many employers require supervisor references that applicants cannot provide because they lack current contact numbers or fear retaliation from current administration. This leaves job seekers stuck or rejected from opportunities simply for failing to meet an impossible contact requirement.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1asking a friend or coworker to pretend to be a managerDid this help you?
- 2trying harder to stay in touch with former supervisorsDid this help you?
- 3subbing for a while to build new referencesDid this help you?
- 4using recent positive formal evaluations instead of administrative referencesDid this help you?
- 5sharing state testing scores and teaching a model lesson during interviewsDid this help you?
- 6Listing professors or former colleaguesDid this help you?
- 7Using mutual contacts in small industriesDid this help you?
- 8Listing people who are guaranteed to say positive thingsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“she insisted I needed to provide a supervisor/manager reference and I couldn't because I never added supervisors/managers before on LinkedIn, don't have their numbers.”source ↗
“So anyway I was basically rejected because I couldn't provide that.”source ↗
“I’m kinda just stuck on the reference part because I’m sure I can’t ask admin for one.”source ↗
“The worst part about being in education is the reference requirements for sure.”source ↗
“I’m just scared of putting admin on my application and it going south with me having to deal with it until they non renew me.”source ↗
“As someone still trying to get her first HR job, I loathe applications that refuse to let me continue without 3 professional references. I don't have any!! And I don't see how the inclusion of them would make a difference!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Will my current boss give me a bad reference?
- 2Making students write their own letters of recommendation
- 3Why is keeping a professional network CRM updated so tedious?
- 3How to decline a bad referral from a good client
- 4My manager passes all their stress down to our team
- 6How do I find a management mentor outside my company?