Hi,

It depends on the company practice.

From my experience, BCG and Bain only ask for background check after candidate accepts the offer, with a clause in the offer that if the background check doesn't go through, the offer would be invalid.

Some coporates and startups that I know, on the other hand, do ask for reference check as a sanity check point before issuing offer. I won't be too surprised if some consulting firm does that too.

Best,

Emily

Hi there,

If you are uncomfortable, it might be worth it to ask the HR to wait until you sign the contract AND submit your resignation before they contact your current employer. Contacting your current employer could cause issues between you and your current company because it is not certain that you will switch companies.

I hope you can manage to get the offer and sign before any contact between the employers takes place.

Best of luck in the process

Khaled

Hello!

It´s totally normal and you have nothing to worry about unless you put a big lie in your CV -e.g., I worked for Google 3 years, and then it´s not true-.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi, I have a couple of inputs on this:

1. It is normal for a company to ask for reference
2. In my experience, if a candidate still employed in the current company, the recruiting company usually doesn't mind with a reference from the previous company
3. Negative comments can be at your disadvantage, as such you need to always provide reference from someone you trust and are in good term
4. You may say you only be willing to provide referral contact after receiving / agrreeing the offer if your current company is your first job so no other direct supervisor that can be asked.

Hi,

A few points:

From formal perspective: large firms do not practice calling your ex-employers before the offer

Informally: they may sometimes call their friends/ acquaintances in your current company to verify your performance. And it happens sometimes before the first interview. And it happens with very reputable firms. Even with MBB. I know numerous cases.

Good luck!

Hi there,

I assume the offer is not from MBB, as they normally do background checks and not reference checks, and only after the offer letter.

I believe it is fair to ask at least the general terms of the offer (eg salary, benefits or anything else you would need to evaluate the offer) before providing the reference. I would not ask for the formal contract, as the previous elements should be enough for you to make a decision anyway.

A bad reference can definitely lead to drop the offer, in particular since they will expect that it is the best reference you have, given you are the one who has to provide it.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

I agree that this is a fair ask.

However, note that one can probably provide a contact that isn't your direct manager if you aren't on great terms with them. Anyone in the organization for whom you have worked and who is in a senior position can be referenced.

Dear A,

Accept my congratulations to your several offers. Well-done! Regarding reference call, this is not really common in consulting to ask for the references. Because, normally you already provide your reference certificates during the application process, for example from the past internships or past working experiences. However, yes, you can insist that you would be willing to provide reference contact only after you receive and sigh a hard copy.

Hope, it helps you,


Good luck,

André

Hi,

This is a standard process across many companies. However, MBBs are usually doing background checks, not the reference check.

Usually, background checks are executed before the formal offer, so I would not push the company for an offer in your case. You can always exclude the most recent job from the references if you are not comfortable with that

Best