refernce etiquette?

[Daydream]

Is it acceptable to send an email to a company to ask for a reference? Or should you write a letter? Or phone?

What is the procedure?
Will they email or write back to you or would they just talk on the phone about the person?
Will they talk to me there and then or want to phone me back?
Will they want my all details?
Can I just say "hello, my name is �.. and I would like to ask for a reference for ��" or do I need to approach it differently?

Is it acceptable to approach any company on the CV or must it only be the ones cited as referees?
My boss says there's no point in speaking to those ones as they are bound to be good and possibly not realistic.
I am new to this and no-one at work seems to be able to advise on the best way, as I am to gather the references for the boss so I need the information written down really, as if they speak to me directly I won't feel able to make good notes, so I'd rather not phone them (I am rubbish on the phone anyway)
I just want to know how these things work as I don't want to appear unprepared and unprofessional so any information you can give will be greatly appreciated.
thank you

[Polotoo]

Hi Daydream

Oh poor you getting in a pickle!

I'm asuming you are talking about employee references for someone coming to work for your company. Most places will send out a standard form for a reference asking about things like attendance, performance, time keeping, any disciplinary issues etc and then a space for general comments. Where I work we also send out a copy of the job description that they have applied for, so that they can comment if the person is suitable.

I have taken references over the phone in the past, but wouldn't recommend it! Much safer and easier to have it all written down, you could include a pre-paid (stamped) envelope for a swift reply.

www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/recruitment.php#references has a lot of info on it including a sample letter and sample form, which you could adapt to your needs. (Don't know if the link works-not too good at that malarky-you might have to type it in or google it!)

As for contacting any companies, I would say thats a big no no. It is common to contact their current or last employer and one other-normally the previous employer. If these aren't the ones cited on their application, then the best course of action is to discuss it with the candidate and ask if you can contact their current/last employer, and see if there are any reasons why they've named someone else. It could be as simple as a previous job was similar to the role they are applying for, so felt they would be better to contact.

I use the site www.businessballs.com quite a lot, might be worth reading through, as has info on recruitment, interviews, adverts, shortlisting and reference requests.

Anyway, I've wobbled on for long enough, hope this is helpful to you!

Kind regards, Polotoo

[Harry Nuttal]

I was going to rabbit on about references and the best way to tackle 'em. But Polotoo has just covered it with an excellent precis. So get on with it. Tell you boss that this is what your firm should be doing - and take all the credit, of course! I might just add that you should consider getting somebody in for a week or two to see if they have two heads. We used to do all our interviewing in the pub. Never failed. Good hunting.