Referees when I haven't told my employer I'm thinking about leaving

[IceandIndigo]

I moved to the UK to take up my current role, which I've been in for a number of years. I've enjoyed the role and like the organisation but my career advancement opportunities are limited there and it's just got to the point where I feel it's time to move on. As I work in quite a specialised area there are not that many suitable roles coming up, and I'm anticipating that it could take a while to find something. I also haven't 100% made up my mind about leaving. I really don't want to tell my current manager that I'm thinking about leaving until I have a job offer on the table.

My question is about referees. Most of the jobs I've looked for are asking for two named referees with contact details, and often require that one of these is my current employer. How does this work if my current employer doesn't know I'm leaving? Can I trust potential employers not to get in touch until they've decided to offer me the role? Sorry if this seems clueless, but as I said this is my first job in Britain and I'm not that familiar with how the referencing process works. In my home country you normally wouldn't be asked to provide references until after a successful interview. I don't feel very comfortable putting someone's name down as a referee if I haven't asked them first. And since I've only worked for one company in the UK all of my potential referees would be associated with my current employer.

[LadyDanburysHat]

Some application forms ask if there are referees that you would not want to contact before offer. If they don't I would mark that on your CV.

[BashfulClam]

My cv says ‘References available on request’ I would only supply them if I had an offer.

[66babe]

In healthcare we only seek references after a job offer has been made ...

[IceandIndigo]

For a number of the jobs I've looked at the application involves an online form where referee details is a required field, so it doesn't work to say "references available on request", and there's nowhere I can add a request not to contact them until after interview. It seems like many employers are moving away from CV-based applications.

[LadyDanburysHat]

If it is an application form, and I agree everyone seems to be moving in that direction. I would add one referee, and a note in the place of the second one that says will be provided on receipt of an offer or similar.

[Justanticipating]

I've never added references on my CVs/applications and would just put 'available on request' if compulsory.

[spotcheck]

Is it in education?

Apparently lots of places have a blanket policy of contacting referees before the formal contract is sent.
I ended up in a very uncomfortable position!

[TedGlenn]

I think this is such a difficult situation. If it's a required field, I guess the application form will 'go through' as long as there is something written in the referee boxes - you might need to experiment to see if typing "Available prior to offer" is put in the name/job title/company/relationship to you boxes, and then your own email address/phone number in the corresponding referee email/phone boxes. (I don't think you can put 'Available upon request', since the form is requesting!).