[giaour]

I've never given a current manager as a reference. Not wanting to alert your current employer that you're seeking a new job is pretty typical, and the hiring manager should understand. Senior peers are a good substitute. In my experience, your references will usually be contacted.

[guacamoleSoda]

Ah, I see how the wording can be confusing. I'll edit the post for clarification I'm not a contractor. I'm a full time SDE.

By "true" job, I meant to imply I've had short-term jobs, like SDE internships, during college. I suppose I could use references from those positions. However, I wouldn't want to as they were quite a while back and my personality and skillset and responsibility has grown substantially since then.

Anyways, my main concern was not including any sort of manager in my pool of references. Ideally, I'd just want to use current peers. They know me well and have a lot to say. I'm afraid anyone 5+ years back whom I only worked for 3 months would barely remember me.

[bigiain]

> I'm afraid anyone 5+ years back whom I only worked for 3 months would barely remember me.

Pick one you had a good relationship with. Call them up and talk to them, tell them you want a reference, and tell them what you've done since you worked for them.

That's what everybody else is doing...

[guacamoleSoda]

Got it. My plan right now is to use:

- An intern who I managed.

- A current co-worker who I've collaborated closely with on a number of projects.

- Our current team lead who I regularly collaborate with on architecture design, but I don't report to him.

These people already know that I'm looking for a new position and they've agreed to provide me with a reference. They should be able to confirm any projects and contributions at my current job, where I've been for 4+ years, as well as speak highly about my performance. Is this set of references good enough for a mid-level SDE position or should I look further back into my job history to add an actual manager [1]?

[1] I know I said I wanted senior SDE earlier but I realized I'm better suited for mid-level right now.

[bigiain]

If it were me, I'd still put in someone who'd been an actual manager - even if it were from 4-5 years back - there's a few questions hiring managers ask about what you were like to manage that can only be answered by someone who's managed you - things not related to your current skillset, but more about thins like attitudes to authority, curiosity, adaptability, teamwork, willingness and speed of learning - stuff like that.

[jackgolding]

Yup over half of recruiters or HR I've dealt with have wanted a current manager as a must have.

[bigiain]

It's not super uncommon. I've done it before - mostly when in a contracting position. I've also had direct reports that trusted me enough to give me as a reference - mostly when I'd been encouraging them to jump into career advances that I'd been unable to provide for them where we were.

But yeah, it;s 100% understandable and acceptable to not want to give any current employer references. (Which is a bit tricky for the OP, who's only got relevant professional experience with their current employer...)