For job interviews, do you put the name of your supervisor down as a referee without asking him? Or you inform him first and then put his name down?

I think that putting his name down without letting him know would be a bit naughty.


But, if you apply for jobs very often, do you bombard your supervisor with emails, telling him 'I have applied for this and that and I have put you down as a referee'?

From early next year I will start applying for jobs and I need to know how this system works.

Thanks in advance

Technically you should ask them...

When I applied for my PhD I naively thought they would contact referees after my interview and I thought I had no chance of getting the PhD anyway so there would be no point in contacting them before.

It didn't matter though, they still gave the reference, even though it had been 5 years since I had had any contact with them! It's probably nice to contact them before the university does though.

When I apply for postdocs I'll just tell them I'm applying and using them as reference, so this way they won't be surprised when they are *hopefully* inundated with emails. They generally just have generic-ish templates they adapt anyway so it's not too arduous.

Yeah, I did the same as TreeofLife. I dropped a generic email to let them know that they are my referees for various jobs I am applying, but lucky for them, I was not even shortlisted for an interview!

You should focus on getting yourself better. Applying for jobs is a massive stressor, especially in combination with writing up. Good luck!