Asking for References While Secretly Recruiting

Hi all,

I’m a second year analyst in the final stages for a finance associate position at a later stage company. The issue is they’ve asked for references prior to the final round and I dont want my team to find out (so not planning on asking them for references) since I’ve been secretly recruiting.

Luckily there’s a couple of people who left my team I feel comfortable asking, but they’re asking for 3 references. I may have to ask people I worked with in other groups during my internship or even my sophomore internship, so references may not be as strong as if it came from my current team. Has anyone come across this issue? I wouldn’t want to ask for references from my current team until I know for sure im getting an offer. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you!