Said It Here

Will my current boss give me a bad reference?

Employees transitioning to a new job worry that their current managers will provide negative feedback or bad references to sabotage their hiring prospects. This fear makes people feel trapped in their current roles, afraid that contacting past employers will ruin their chances of moving on.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    asking former colleagues or friends for references
  2. 2
    requesting that prospective employers not contact the current employer during the application process
  3. 3
    having direct and open conversations with current supervisors or partners about career exit plans
  4. 4
    relying on a good reference from a remote accounting internship instead

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Accounting2 people · September 2026

“I’m nervous that my current managers would give bad feedback about me in order to dissuade potential employers from hiring me, thus imprisoning me in my current role.”source ↗

Zpaterick18 · r/Accounting · 33 upvotes

“What is the catch? Will they conduct a reference check closer to the start date?”source ↗

“I’m wondering what’s the catch, it almost feels too good to be true.”source ↗

“this is what Im worried about, I was not a good worker, quit without notice and generally had issues with performance and would probably be disclosed as illegible for rehire if they contacted my old manager”source ↗

“They mentioned they’d reach out to confirm a few details in August before starting, and I worry they’ll contact that tutor centre I used to work at.”source ↗

Sure_Measurement1600 · r/Accounting · 2 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Accountingaccountingcareercareer changeemploymentjob huntingjob offerworkplace anxiety

People with this problem also raised