References NOT Available Upon Request

After receiving a promising resume for a job request, I scheduled an interview with the candidate. The interview itself was fairly straightforward, having all the standard questions about .NET, C# and SQL Server.

The candidate seemed fairly knowledgeable although I would probably get them to do a technical interview if we decided to move forward.

I thanked the individual for coming in, and asked them to forward me 2 or 3 references.

I was somewhat taken aback by their response. “I prefer to get my jobs on my own. I don’t like to bother my former employers with those details.”

I explained to them that we require references to verify their employment, skills and experience. Again, they responded with “I prefer to get my jobs on my own.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what to say, so I simply told them that it’s standard practice and that we would not be able to consider them for a position without references. Begrudgingly, I was told that they'd be sending an email with some references.

Needless to say, I never received a follow-up email.