The Student Room Group

Was this a stupid mistake?

So I applied for a graduate job and on the application it required 2 referees. I knew a few people I could use but instead I put "not applicable n/a" on all the boxes of the application

I've been unemployed for some time due to an injury and it has taken a long time for me to find a graduate job.I'm always unsuccessful.

I was afraid the few people I knew who would be able to be my referees will judge me because I should've been working by now.

They were willing to be my referees for other jobs I applied for

Was it a stupid mistake of putting "not applicable" on the referee section of the job application?

Will I get in trouble? Any advice

Please be Kind
Perhaps you may ask for another form to fill if the company allows it. As for your referees, you can always explain to them why you haven't managed to land a job yet.
Yes, it was a mistake.
Most graduate recruiters and employers seeking to employ graduates who ask all applicants to provide references with full referee contact information will check them and automatically remove all those that choose not to provide any from their recruitment pool.
Reply 3
I think the use of referees is highly questionable as they are likely to be biased and random. The large companies I’ve worked for will only confirm dates of employment as a result. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable not to want to give a referee at the outset. Going forward I would either put the name of someone you trust to be reasonable or go for ‘available on request’. I have used this phase and it signifies that at a later stage if both sides are interested you can supply them. N/a isn’t the best of answers but may not count against you and certainly won’t get you in to trouble
Original post by Anonymous
So I applied for a graduate job and on the application it required 2 referees. I knew a few people I could use but instead I put "not applicable n/a" on all the boxes of the application

I've been unemployed for some time due to an injury and it has taken a long time for me to find a graduate job.I'm always unsuccessful.

I was afraid the few people I knew who would be able to be my referees will judge me because I should've been working by now.

They were willing to be my referees for other jobs I applied for

Was it a stupid mistake of putting "not applicable" on the referee section of the job application?

Will I get in trouble? Any advice

Please be Kind


Yes, it was a mistake, your application is incomplete and it looks strange, because of course referees are 'applicable' ie relevant. However, if the rest of your application is very strong, they might overlook it.

As to your potential referees, just send them an email saying Dear X, Unfortunately I was injured following an accident and unable to work for the last X months. However, I am not fit and well again and so I am applying to a number of graduate scheme. I just wanted to check that you are still happy to be a referee for me and if so, to confirm your best contact details. Kind regards, "
i would ring them up and say you made a mistake with the application and you need to give them your references, they may not give you an interview without them
Original post by threeportdrift
Yes, it was a mistake, your application is incomplete and it looks strange, because of course referees are 'applicable' ie relevant. However, if the rest of your application is very strong, they might overlook it.

As to your potential referees, just send them an email saying Dear X, Unfortunately I was injured following an accident and unable to work for the last X months. However, I am not fit and well again and so I am applying to a number of graduate scheme. I just wanted to check that you are still happy to be a referee for me and if so, to confirm your best contact details. Kind regards, "


I agree

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