Job Interview and References

Meiteron

Some background info first: An acquaintance is leaving his job at a sales position in a small company in my city, and recommended me to his boss to replace him. The position itself is mostly sales with a bit of a focus on tech support for handling issues with company servers and other IT situations. The position isn't entry-level, but it doesn't require years of experience or anything along those lines. I meet all the requirements they asked for.

Initial discussions with the fellow who is going to be interviewing me have gone well but I'm a bit concerned about providing references afterwards. I'm a university compsci graduate but haven't had employment for the past couple years since graduation, due to a poor job market and not having a pressing need for income (which has kept me looking, unsuccessfully, for jobs a bit more in my field). The people who could have provided commercial references from my last sales job have all moved on or are otherwise unreachable; the only people I could reasonably list as references would be some university professors or fellow students I worked with who are now employed.

How big of an issue would not being able to provide commercial references be? Other than what I listed, are there any people who are generally accepted as valid character references? There's always the chance that they simply won't ask for any but I imagine they will.

The interview is happening this week so I'm really just looking for opinions on what to expect if I do the interview with few (or no) references provided afterwards.

Zeon

You can put down anyones name as a reference. Im sure youve "worked" with some of your friends before, some of your eloquent friends who have good telephone manners and can think fast on their feet...

Derrick

Have a few references ready, but I wouldn't get overly worked up about it.

I've read that most jobs tend not to check references. None of mine have ever been called.

Aldo

Zeon wrote:

You can put down anyones name as a reference. Im sure youve "worked" with some of your friends before, some of your eloquent friends who have good telephone manners and can think fast on their feet...

Lying to a future employer is a great way to either not get the job or get fired down the line for a crappy reason.

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Considering they're already interested in specifically hiring you, while you've provided them with a résumé with a huge gap in it and no recent experience in sales, I wonder how important references are going to be. If they really demand them I'd recommend asking professors who remember you or hunting LinkedIn for people you used to work for.

Modern Man

If your friend is recommending you, and that recommendation seems to carry weight with your potential boss, I wouldn't worry too much about the reference issue. If the potential boss likes and trusts your friend, that's a much better reference than someone he doesn't know who you might list as a reference.

When it comes to hiring, a recommendation from someone the boss knows and respects carries a lot of weight.

L Ron Howard

Derrick wrote:

Have a few references ready, but I wouldn't get overly worked up about it.

I've read that most jobs tend not to check references. None of mine have ever been called.

I have the same experience. I have had references for years that have never been called. I was actually called once from someone checking references once long ago, but that's the extent of my experience with anyone ever checking references. That's not to say you make stuff up, but in the long run you've got an incredibly good chance of your references never being called.

Pariel

It certainly isn't a good idea to lie to your employers from day one.

If you really can't provide any references, tell them that. If it just requires effort on your part, put in the effort.

Anarchy Rules!

If possible provide a reference of a university lecturer who you hopefully got on ok with. Your friend's recommendation is probably an adequate enough second reference.