would you call a boss that had fired you for a reference?

It would strongly depend on the circumstances of why you got sacked, if it was because you were made redundant then definitely yes but it was due to a misdemeanour which you were guilty of then no I would seek another reference from someone else, or even ask a supervisor or someone else in the company for a reference that I got on with, it doesn't always have to be your manager you get a reference from. I worked at a school once and I didn't get on with the headmistress but the teacher I worked with was more than happy to provide a reference for me.

I wouldn't have the gaul. However, I have a relative who had something on a previous employer and literally blackmailed an excellent reference after getting sacked. He went on to own part of a company that sold for a fortune. Guess it's not always a bad idea to use whatever you can.

It's not guts, it's stupidity really. Although it is illegal (in the UK) to give a bad reference an employer can just say they refuse to comment and the potential new employer can make what they will of that. If I called an employer for a reference and they declined, I would take that to mean the employee was let go for some reason other than plain old redundancy. Also by asking a few simple questions when taking up a reference you can find out a lot, such as "Would you employ this person again?" It they were dismissed, of course you can say "No". If the employee is daft enough to give reference details of a place she was sacked from, she might think she's being clever, i.e. they can't give a bad reference but they can decline to give a reference at all and/or state that they would not employ her again if the opporunity arose! Personally I would never do that, I have so many previous managers who would be happy to give me a good reference so it's not a problem I ever envisage encountering :)

I probably wouldn't, especially if I was fired because of my job performance. I don't think that boss would be happy to do that for me, either. I would prefer to ask for reference from a boss who was pleased with my job all the way till I left that company. It would also be ok to get reference from a company that had to fire me due to budget cuts. That was their internal problem, not a problem with my work. This is one reason why it is good to do your best in any job, because one day, the employers are the same people who will recommend you to another job.

I probably would not phone a boss who had fired me based on my job performance because if they were not pelased with my work ethics and my performance on the job then they would probably feel obligated to "warn" another potential employer that they are wasting their time and money training me. I would probably find an employer who had not fired me as a refrence or call someone i did light labour for (baby sitting etc)

No because they would not give me a good reference..I just feel if they were going to give a good reference then they wouldn't have fired me.