When I've applied for jobs in the past, the potential employers have made it clear they wouldn't contact referees until after interview. If the interview was successful they gave me an offer "subject to references". But today I've been completing an application, and they asked for two referees from the last 3 years, i.e. my current employer, and said "Can we contact your referees before interview?". I answered no, because I haven't told my referees (my line manager and his manager) that I'm looking for another job, and don't want them to know until I'm fairly certain I'm going. I'd also quite like to tell them myself, rather than them getting an email from a rival employer out of the blue. AIBU?