May We Contact This Employer How to Answer This Question

May We Contact This Employer How to Answer This Question A common question on a job application is may we contact your current employer? Many job seekers dont want their current employer to know that theyre on the hunt for a new jobso can you respond no without hurting your chances of landing the new job? We’ll cover whether or not you should allow a company to contact your current employer when doing a background check and what effect your answer has. May We Contact Your Current Employer? There is no problem saying “no” to contacting your current boss if you’re trying to keep your job search a secret. Doesnt this set a bad impression with a potential employer? No. Most hiring managers understand that you may not want your current employer to find out that youre looking for work elsewhere. It could be that you havent made a definite decision about leaving and youre just exploring some other options. They also understand that your job may be at risk if the employer finds out. How do I explain my reason for not wanting a prospective employer to contact my current one? Although they would generally not ask for the reason, hiring managers may ask why you dont want them contacting a current employer. If this happens, you could respondletting them know that you dont want your current employer to know youre job hunting yet. You can give them past employers as a reference instead. Valid Reasons For Not Contacting Previous Employers There are really only two valid reasons you can mention as to why the hiring manager cant contact your current employer. You dont want your current employer to know youre looking for a job.The company no longer exists. Anything other than that will usually be a red flag. How to Answer “May We Contact This Employer” If You Were Fired This is a difficult situation, but its not the end of the world. You, of course, dont want a potential employer to contact someone who will say something negative about you. Here are some potential ways to get around having a hiring managers contact someone due to poor performance or anything negative: #1 Will they really speak poorly of you? Most employers are well aware of the consequences around defamation and want to avoid any possible lawsuits. You may be surprised tolearnthat most wont bad mouth you and give specific details as to why you were fired. Try reaching out tothe HR department to find out what their policy is regarding inquires about former staff. #2 â€" Find co-workers who have something good to say. Maybe your boss couldnt get along with you, butsurelyyou can find someone else at your company who did. Just make sure this person knows to expect a call, and that your contact has only good things to say about you.You should also ensure that this personhas a high-level titlelike a manager or supervisor. #3 Leave it out You dont need to include every position you held on a resume. You can usually leave off a past job that isnt going to help you land this job; especially if you were fired from thejob due to poor performance or some other mistake. If the position you held was under a year in duration, you can safely scratch it from your resume. If the position was in a different field or industry, you can leave it off. You also dont need to include positions that you held over 10-15 years ago because its likely that positions this dated may not be representative of your current work experience. If none of the above will work for you and youre certain that your previous employer will say something negativejust say no. Try to include other references and past employersthey can contact instead. Conclusion Its perfectly acceptable to answer no to contacting your current employer. Most employers understand this and usually wont have any effect on their decision. Make sure you have a back up of other references or employers they can contact. There really arent any valid reasons for saying no to companies youre no longer working for. This is almost always a red flag as they would think you were let go forsome negative reason. To recap: Its usuallyokay to answer no for can we contact your current employer. Its not okay to answer no for companies you arent working for anymore. If you were fired, refer to the tips above. Good luck with your job search!