Please share suggestions for Thank you gift to former bosses who served as professional references

[Anonymous]

2 former bosses, both excellent people, both far better off financially than I, so they are not exactly "wanting" for stuff. Both are very low-key and family-oriented men in late 40s/early 50s.

Wine? (I know nothing about wine so would need very specific names, years, etc.)
Restaurant meal?
Other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Why not just a note?

[Anonymous]

2nd vote for a thank-you note. A reference is not a bribe.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I've done notes already. They would not interpret a thank you gift as a bribe (and anyway, at their income level, they would not be "bought" by a $100 gift). I would greatly appreciate suggestions for an actual gift. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, no gift. It’s not really appropriate. It’s almost inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

10:33 again. I know this is not what you want to hear, but a gift for a reference is inappropriate. These men were your bosses. Good bosses, with whom you had a good working relationship, should be happy to serve as references. Though they may have said wonderful (true!) things about you, this should not have put them out in any way. Really, they were doing their jobs, as a good boss wishes his employees well and can serve as a mentor.

I have never received a gift for a reference. If I did, I would have found it exceptionally odd. And again, even if it is not a true bribe, the impression of a bribe is there.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PPs - note, no gift

[Anonymous]

Definitely no gift.

[Anonymous]

No gift. Definitely.

[Anonymous]

I recently had a reference refuse an unrelated, tiny favor I offered that would otherwise have made a lot of sense because he wanted to avoid any suggestion of impropriety.

[Anonymous]

It's never occurred to me to give a gift to my references. However, I remember to write a sincerely written thank you note to them and keep them abreast if I have gotten the job or not.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm totally surprised by the consensus on how "incorrect" my instinct toward gift giving has turned out to be. I guess I'm not sure whether I'm embarrassed (I've sent gifts in the past to these same people) or thankful to have saved a couple hundred dollars. I guess I'm glad to have an anonymous forum to ask these things!

Cheers,
OP

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm totally surprised by the consensus on how "incorrect" my instinct toward gift giving has turned out to be. I guess I'm not sure whether I'm embarrassed (I've sent gifts in the past to these same people) or thankful to have saved a couple hundred dollars. I guess I'm glad to have an anonymous forum to ask these things!

Well, if you want to give us gifts instead, I promise there will be no embarrassment!

[Anonymous]

You could also send a Christmas card with a yearly update on your career as a way to keep in touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 former bosses, both excellent people, both far better off financially than I, so they are not exactly "wanting" for stuff. Both are very low-key and family-oriented men in late 40s/early 50s.

Wine? (I know nothing about wine so would need very specific names, years, etc.)
Restaurant meal?
Other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

You don't have to give these overpaid slobs anything.