Is this the done thing?

[Dieu]

Hi. My new employer-to-be has just asked me to contact my referees, as on my CV, to request my own references which I should then forward to her. Is this the done thing? I thought it was for the new employer to contact the former directly, to ask for an employee reference. Absolutely not a big deal (although I do feel slightly awkward about it) - just curious. Thanks.

Odd. Has she given you a standard template to be completed? Otherwise, what is to prevent you from writing your own reference and passing it off as legitimate (not that you will do that of course but it leaves her wide open to being conned by someone less principled). Is this person a one-woman band or is this a larger company?

Hi Unexpected and thanks for your reply. It's a one-woman band. Perhaps she expected me to have references already available at home, but in the past, I have always left it to the employer to get in touch with the referees. She has asked me to get in touch with the referees to ask for references, which she will then copy for her records. I emailed back to ask her if it might be easier for me to email them, and ask them to email her directly with the references. A bit of a faff otherwise! I am still in close contact with one of the referees, but the other is a past employer from years ago (stay at home mum!). I didn't think this was the typical way an employer would handle it, but just wanted to check out other people's thoughts.