8
where the hell is it the norm to talk to your previous employment supervisor??
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
In the US that is completely normal.
this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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do you keep your supervisor's numbers?
Yes.. I keep contact information on hand of everyone that I use as references and I make an effort to stay on touch with them.
It is how I built my professional network.
This is a common litmus test. If you parted on good terms you would not object. Its not about the how, but about your reaction. If I see someone flinch I will ask more in that direction and if someone is avoiding and does not seem honest I actually call and ask the full story.
The truth usually resides somewhere between the two stories and that and depending if I think I would want to work with that person, I will hire them. In rare cases with an extended probationary period.
In your situation I would just answer: sure why not? But I don't have any way to contact them myself, but I can offer the name and company name, so you have something to go on.
Most companies nowadays do not let their employees talky about past employees because of liability.
Send the contact info anyway, HR will tell them they cannot discuss it but usually will answer if the employee is re-hireable or not.
That sounds US specific. I'm from Germany. You are free to ask away, just can't write bad shit into a letter of recommendation. But you can always offer the call you which is usually a hint not to hire somebody without talking to them.
There are plenty of ways to write bad stuff in recommendation letters that hiring managers will pick up on, without it sounding negative for the employee.
It is US Specific, mostly because that was where I was the last time I worked for anyone else.
....do I need a disclaimer when I write an opinion?
Yes? How are people supposed to know where you live
I mean, you could just take the answer at face value and if it applies to you, heed it or don't....and if it doesn't apply just disregard it?
But, you do you, man.
Isnt this just your possible new employer is asking for references? Completely normal in the UK
i'm totally fine providing references, i'm drowning in those. but i haven't been on such good terms with my supervisors. which... i do sort of prefer. power relationship in the workplace and all
(i wasn't on BAD terms with them, just not "i have your phone number" terms)
yeah, they want to know whether you suck. the expectation is that most people will be kind and support you, and you will likewise pay it back when you have people under you.
Yeah basically "do you suck so much people will abandon courtesy?"
do you... keep your supervisor's numbers after you leave a place?
last place i worked, i never even met the lady
yeah that's pretty common
do you normally have your supervisor's phone number?
no but their email
Perfectly normal.
It's the norm in parts of the Swedish public healthcare sector - where contact information itself is public. In the private sector less so, usually the applicant supplies their own references which we'll then happily ignore and try to find colleagues and even previous managers to contact ourselves to get the true picture.
"Here is a list of my references, most of them are my close colleagues and they know what I'm like at work"
"Yeah no lol we'll just scroll through your LinkedIn contacts and read your Facebook posts instead"
Classic
I've been a hiring manager and have had plenty of people handing in phony references.
(It's illegal in the EU for an employer to go trawling a candidate's social media btw)
Right, I'm very curious about how you'd find relevant colleagues (not in the reference list) without using e.g. LinkedIn?
Also curious about the phoniest reference you've ever received, if you care to share.
I'm 51. I have former uni friends and colleagues working everywhere in this region. If an applicant claims to have worked at X during Y it's not that difficult to ask someone who was at that company at the same time and go from there.
The phoniest reference was at our US office where I got fooled (since I didn't have a network there to go and ask) when I hired someone for a devops position who turned out to know absolutely nothing about devops. That "former colleague" reference I spoke to was lying their ass off. After a while we managed to figure out that it was the person's partner who did all the work from home, whilst themselves also working another job.