Job Dilemma...need some input?

[harrisonfjord]

I currently work on campus without a tuition waiver. I am struggling because I only get 20 hours a week at minimum grad student pay. I found an opportunity that would pay for my housing, tuition, part of a meal plan, and on top of that the pay I am making now as a stipend. In order to event apply for this new job I have to tell them who my current boss is and they are going to call her for a reference. I really need this new job, but since it is not certain I will get it, I do not want to cut my nose to spite my face and lose out on the one I have (if something doesn't work out). What would you do in this situation?

I was just going to leave the spot blank but it says in the application information they are specifically looking for current and past supervisors as references.

[fuzzylogician]

I would ask for confidentiality and explain that my current employer is not aware that I am applying for other jobs. You will not be the first person in such a situation, so they should know how to handle it. I'd offer the names of other references for them to contact. They want to talk to people who know you, which is legitimate, so you just need to make some such people available to them. It gets tricky if this is the first and only job you've ever had; in that case I guess you will have to give them academic references.