Job references in Sweden: choose, ask and prepare

References are people who can tell an employer what you are like to work with. In a Swedish recruitment they usually come in late, when it is down to a few candidates, and at that point a good call with a former manager can carry a lot of weight. It pays to think through your job references well in advance. Below: references on your CV, who to choose, how to brief them and the rules for the data the employer collects about you.

References on your CV: available on request

You don’t need to list your references on your CV. Many people in Sweden add a heading, References, with the line “References available on request”. It is a common and fully accepted way to do it.

It has two advantages. Your references won’t get called too often if you apply for many jobs. And you stay in control: when an employer asks for references, you can contact them first and tell them which job it is about, so they are prepared when the phone rings.

Send the contact details when the employer asks for them, which usually happens after the interview. Have them ready so you can reply the same day.

Who to choose

Choose people who know you well, preferably through work. A former manager is often the strongest reference, but a colleague, supervisor or mentor also works. What counts is that the person can describe how you work, how you function in a group and how you have handled challenges.

Two to three names is usually enough. Some things to consider when you choose:

• Match the job. If you are applying for a leadership role, a reference who has seen you lead is worth more than one who knows you only as a colleague.
• Pick recent experience. A manager from the last few years can answer more concretely than someone you worked with long ago.
• Leave out friends and relatives. It comes across as unprofessional, even if they know you well.
• Think about your current manager. If your employer doesn’t know you are looking, you can ask the company you are applying to to wait with that reference until an offer is close.

How to ask and brief your references

Always ask first. Nobody wants a call about someone they haven’t talked to in years, and an unprepared call rarely goes as well as it could have.

When you ask, tell them:

• which job you are applying for and what the employer seems to value most
• which projects or tasks you would like them to mention
• that they may be contacted soon, and by whom

Your references can help you even while you write the application. A former manager can often remind you of results and examples you have forgotten, which you can then use in a competency-based interview.

Get in touch again afterward. Ask if they were contacted and what they talked about, so you know what the employer has heard. And thank them, however it goes, since you will want to ask them again next time.

When the employer calls your references

References are usually checked late in the process, after the interviews, and only for the final candidate or candidates. At some employers it is the last step before the offer. If you want to know when it happens in your process, ask at the end of the interview. You will find more ideas like that among our questions to ask in an interview.

A reference call usually covers:

• where you worked together, in which roles and for how long
• what your tasks were
• what results you achieved
• how you acted in situations similar to the new job

That last point is often about the same skills the interview covered. The employer wants to see if the picture from your conversation matches how others describe you.

The advice to recruiters is never to contact anyone without the candidate knowing. If the employer wants to talk to someone you didn’t name, they should ask you first.

How to list your references

When the employer asks for references, you can send them by email or bring them printed to the interview. Include name, title, workplace, contact details and how you know each other. An example with placeholders:

• First Last, head of department at Company Inc. My direct manager from 2022 to 2025. Phone and email.
• First Last, project manager at Company Inc. We worked in the same project group for two years. Phone and email.
• First Last, supervisor during my internship at Organization. Phone and email.

The relationship is the line people most often forget, and it matters. The person calling wants to know whether you are talking about your manager, a colleague or a supervisor, because each can answer different things.

Your data and your rights

Swedish employers follow the EU’s data protection rules, the GDPR. An employer may handle your personal data during a recruitment, including what ends up in interview notes and reference calls, but there are limits. In principle, data about job applicants may not be processed without your knowledge, and you should be told what is collected, why and how it is used.

When the recruitment is over, the starting point is that the data is deleted or anonymized. The employer may keep it as long as you can take legal action, for example appeal a decision. Keeping it for future recruitments requires your consent.

You also have the right to know what data an organization holds about you. Ask in writing if you can. As a rule it is free, and you should get an answer without undue delay and within one month at the latest. You get an understandable summary of your data, though not always everything, since information about other people can be left out. If you think your data has been mishandled, you can complain to IMY, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection.

If you lack good references

A short work history is nothing unusual. A teacher, a supervisor from an internship or a leader in an association where you had a role works well. The person should still have seen you work.

If you have worked abroad, references from there can be hard to reach. Written certificates or letters from your former employers that you can show help in that case.

Since references come in late, it is the interview that gets you there. Prepare with our common interview questions, and if the process includes tests, you can practice on our free logic test beforehand.