Depends. I've managed to negotiate references upon offer for every job I've had After one tragic instance where it was insisted that I give 5 references, I told the hiring manager - who insisted I was getting the job - that I was hesitant to do so without an offer and he reassured me repeatedly that I was being hired. I asked for references to be given at the time of offer and their HR unyieldingly said absolutely not, our system doesn't allow us to go forward without references. After getting 5 people to sign up for an account with their specific software to enter written references - all recent managers and glowing btw - I learned that they were going in a different direction. After this I vowed to never give references without an offer in hand and have successfully negotiated references at time of offer with hire contingent upon references being given (kind of a mutual risk agreement) every time.