This seems to be something that varies a lot by field. In academic jobs (and PhD applications), it’s absolutely standard to ask for references in the first round of applications, and to ask for as many as 3. It’s a really useful part of the process, and since academics know that, they don’t begrudge writing references fairly frequently.
Writing frequent references in academia might be a bit easier than when people are applying for other types of jobs: a supervisor can simply have a letter on file for a past student saying how good they are at research and send that out each time they’re asked for a reference. Another thing which might contribute to academia using references more is it being a very competitive field, where large returns are expected from differentiating between the very best candidate and the next best. As an employer, I’ve found references very helpful. So if we expect EA orgs to have competitive hiring rounds where there are large returns on finding the best candidate, it could be worth our spending more time writing/giving references than is typical.
I find it difficult to gauge how off-putting asking for references early would be for the typical candidate. In my last job application, I gave a number of referees, some of whom were contacted at the time of my trial, and I felt fine about that—but that could be because I’m used to academia, or because my referees were in the EA community and so I knew they would value the org I was applying for making the right hiring decision, rather than experience giving a reference as an undue burden.
I would guess the most important in asking for references early is being willing to accept not getting a references from current employers / colleagues, since if you don’t know whether you have a job offer you’re often not going to want your current employer to know you’re applying for other jobs.
I think that also depends on the country. In my experience, references don’t play such an important role in Germany as they do in UK/US. Especially the practice that referees have to submit their reference directly to the university is uncommon in Germany. Usually, referees would write a letter of reference for you, and then the applicant can hand it in. Also, having references tailored to the specific application (which seems to be expected in UK/US) is not common in Germany.
So, yes, I am also hesitant to ask my academic referees too often. If I knew that they would be contacted early in application processes, I would certainly apply for less positions. For example, I maybe wouldn’t apply for positions that I probably won’t get but would be great if they worked out.
This seems to be something that varies a lot by field. In academic jobs (and PhD applications), it’s absolutely standard to ask for references in the first round of applications, and to ask for as many as 3. It’s a really useful part of the process, and since academics know that, they don’t begrudge writing references fairly frequently.
Writing frequent references in academia might be a bit easier than when people are applying for other types of jobs: a supervisor can simply have a letter on file for a past student saying how good they are at research and send that out each time they’re asked for a reference. Another thing which might contribute to academia using references more is it being a very competitive field, where large returns are expected from differentiating between the very best candidate and the next best. As an employer, I’ve found references very helpful. So if we expect EA orgs to have competitive hiring rounds where there are large returns on finding the best candidate, it could be worth our spending more time writing/giving references than is typical.
I find it difficult to gauge how off-putting asking for references early would be for the typical candidate. In my last job application, I gave a number of referees, some of whom were contacted at the time of my trial, and I felt fine about that—but that could be because I’m used to academia, or because my referees were in the EA community and so I knew they would value the org I was applying for making the right hiring decision, rather than experience giving a reference as an undue burden.
I would guess the most important in asking for references early is being willing to accept not getting a references from current employers / colleagues, since if you don’t know whether you have a job offer you’re often not going to want your current employer to know you’re applying for other jobs.
I think that also depends on the country. In my experience, references don’t play such an important role in Germany as they do in UK/US. Especially the practice that referees have to submit their reference directly to the university is uncommon in Germany. Usually, referees would write a letter of reference for you, and then the applicant can hand it in. Also, having references tailored to the specific application (which seems to be expected in UK/US) is not common in Germany.
So, yes, I am also hesitant to ask my academic referees too often. If I knew that they would be contacted early in application processes, I would certainly apply for less positions. For example, I maybe wouldn’t apply for positions that I probably won’t get but would be great if they worked out.