References for a CV: do you need them?

The short answer

In the UK, a CV is a sales document for the first round, and references belong to the last. Employers normally check references after interview, when they make you an offer that depends on them being satisfactory. Acas, the workplace advice service, describes exactly this: an offer can be made conditional on references, and the check happens at the end. Until then nobody needs your former manager's mobile number, and printing it on a CV that might be forwarded, uploaded to a jobs board or left on a desk is a small privacy risk for someone who has done you a favour.

So the default is simple. No referee names, no contact details, and the space goes on your experience. The exceptions are covered below, and they are real, but they are exceptions.

Should you write "references available on request"?

You can, and you do not have to. The National Careers Service still lists it as the closing line of a standard CV, so nobody will mark you down for it. It also tells the reader nothing they did not already assume. Every employer knows you will supply referees when asked.

Treat it as a line you keep only if it costs you nothing. If your CV fits comfortably on two pages, leave it at the bottom. If it pushes your last job entry onto a third page, or squeezes out a line about a qualification, delete it without a second thought.

When referees do belong on the CV

There are a few situations where naming referees up front is expected, or at least helps:

• The advert or the employer's instructions ask for them. Follow the instruction exactly, including how many.
• Academic and research posts. Universities often contact referees before interview, and an academic CV commonly ends with two or three named referees, usually senior academics who know your research.
• Some small employers, such as a family-run shop, a trades business or a local nursery, who hire quickly and like to ring someone before they even meet you.
• Application forms. Most public sector, NHS, school and charity forms have their own references section. Fill that in and keep the CV itself clean.

If none of these apply, a named referee on your CV does no harm, but it takes up space that could hold evidence of what you can do.

Who to ask

An employer wants to hear from someone who has seen you work and can talk about it with authority. In practice, that means this order of preference:

1. Your current or most recent line manager. Many employers insist that one referee is your latest employer.
2. A previous line manager, supervisor or team leader, ideally from a job similar to the one you are applying for.
3. A senior colleague who supervised part of your work, if your manager has left the organisation.
4. For freelancers and the self-employed: a regular client, or the agency or main contractor who gave you most of your work.
5. For volunteering, study or a return to work: a volunteer coordinator, course tutor or placement supervisor.

Relatives and friends do not count as work referees, even when a relative was your boss in a family business. If you worked for a relative, say so and offer a customer, supplier or colleague as a second referee. Someone who cannot be seen as neutral makes an employer wonder what the others would have said.

A first job is a slightly different case: there is no manager to ask, so a teacher, coach or volunteering lead fills the gap. Our CV example for 16 year olds covers that situation in detail. The rest of this guide is about references from work.

If your current employer does not know you are looking

This worries a lot of people, and it rarely needs to. Acas advises employers to ask for references only when they have made a conditional offer, so that contacting your current employer does not put your job at risk. You can also say so plainly on the form or at interview: "Please contact my current employer only after an offer." Recruiters see this request often. Give a previous manager as your first referee, and your current one once the offer is on the table.

How to ask a referee, and what to send them

Ask before you give anyone's name, every time, even if they said yes two years ago. People move jobs, change phone numbers and forget. A referee who is surprised by a call from a stranger gives a vaguer reference than one who expected it.

Then help them help you. Send the job description, your current CV and two or three things the new employer cares about that your referee actually saw, such as the rota you rebuilt or the audit you passed. Do not script their answer. Remind them of the evidence and let them use their own words. Tell them when you get an offer, and thank them whatever the outcome. You will want to ask again.

What a former employer can and cannot say

Acas explains that, in most cases, an employer does not have to give a reference at all. The exceptions are when a contract or a settlement agreement promises one, and certain financial services jobs regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority, where references are required. If an employer does give one, it must be fair and accurate.

Many large organisations only give a basic reference: your job title and the dates you worked there. That is a company policy, not a sign that anything went wrong, and experienced recruiters read it that way. A detailed reference can go further. According to Acas it may cover your skills, ability and experience, the reason you left, and current, relevant disciplinary and sickness records. It should not include absence connected to disability, maternity or paternity leave, details of reasonable adjustments, or old and irrelevant disciplinary matters. Any opinion in it should be backed by evidence.

This is useful when you choose referees. A manager at a large employer may be allowed to confirm only your dates through HR, so a personal reference from them may not be possible. Ask what they are permitted to give before you list them.

Gaps, closed businesses and awkward exits

Not everyone has a tidy line of managers waiting to vouch for them. Acas suggests some practical routes when a normal reference is hard to get:

• Ask a different manager, or a colleague who worked closely with you, at the same employer.
• Offer a reference from a different employer, such as the job before.
• Ask whether the new employer will accept a personal or character reference from someone who knows you well but has not employed you.
• Where a firm will not give detailed references, ask for a short written statement of your role and dates.
• Suggest a trial or probationary period so the employer can judge your work directly.

If your old employer has closed down, say so. Former managers are usually easy to find through professional networking sites, and most are happy to help once asked. After a long career break, a recent volunteering role, course tutor or a client from occasional work shows who you are now, which is what the employer is really asking.

If you left on bad terms, do not hide the job, because a gap or a missing employer invites more questions than an honest answer. Give that employer's HR department for a factual reference, and a different person for the detailed one. At interview, explain briefly and without blame why you left and what you took from it.

If you think a reference has cost you an offer

Acas suggests starting with the new employer: ask what concerned them, and offer another referee. You can ask in writing, either the person who wrote the reference or the employer who received it, for a copy. They may refuse if it was given in confidence, which UK GDPR allows. If a reference was misleading or inaccurate and you lost out because of it, or it was discriminatory, there are legal routes, and Acas sets them out.

How to set out referee details when you are asked

If an advert asks for referees on the CV, add a short section at the very end, headed "References". Give two referees, one of them your current or most recent employer, and for each include:

• Full name and job title.
• Organisation, and how they know you ("my line manager, 2022 to 2025").
• A work email address and a work phone number, not a personal mobile unless they have offered it.

Keep the section plain and in the same font as the rest of the CV. Two lines per referee is plenty. If the advert asks for three, add a third rather than a longer description of the first two.