References are always an issue for both candidates and agencies, but especially for candidates because it’s embarrassing to have to bother your former employers so many times (and often for nothing).
It’s very tricky: you have to strictly respect confidentiality to be considered a good candidate, and at the same time if you want to increase your chances to find work you have to not care and break it often by giving the contact details of your former employers to everyone who asks…
Candidates ask us all the time why agencies are so pushy about references, and what options there are for finding work without constantly bothering former employers.
Here’s what we can tell you about it:
It’s normal for agencies to need references and to check them. This is actually why families go through agencies and pay them : because they want candidates that have been vetted.
Agencies must check your work history because unfortunately many candidates lie on their CVs.
Additionally, when they recommend you to a client, they are taking on a responsibility and putting their reputation at risk. It’s understandable that they want to make sure that the candidate they recommend won’t harm their business.
That being said, if you often feel that agencies are a little too interested in your former employers’ contact details, you’re often not wrong…
The truth is that your former employers are new potential clients for agencies and some don’t hesitate to advertise their services when they check your references!
When agencies ask for your former employers’ contact information, they act as if they are entitled to this information (for your information, this is not the case, because it is confidential information), and they often promise you that they will never contact your references without your consent, which is often not true.
Once you share this information with them, the agencies feel they can use it however they want, and they often misuse it.
In fact, if you read the agencies’ Terms and Conditions for candidates carefully, you will see that some agencies have a clause that says that by registering with their agency you agree to the use of your former employers’ contact details for commercial/business purposes. Candidates never read agencies’ T&Cs, yet they should…
Oddly enough, all agencies only want top candidates, yet some agencies only work with candidates who have no problem breaking confidentiality to find work.
Anyway, it’s possible to get a nanny job without anyone checking your references, but honestly, it’s usually the difficult families or those who don’t care about the industry standards who don’t need references.
There’s no real solution, but in a previous post we shared tips to avoid burning out your references and we recommend you read or reread them!
In any case, take your time before sharing your references, you have every right not to share them straight away, and above all, trust your guts!
And remember, nanny agencies aren’t the only way to find your dream job!
