Get
the Most from
Professional
References
| Employers
will usually request three to five professional
references. A
professional
reference can speak about your
performance on the job. Good
professional references may be recent supervisors, co-workers (not
subordinates), customers, vendors or suppliers, pro-bono clients, or
volunteer committee members. Use friends or members of the clergy only as a last resort. They cannot give employers much of the information employers need to decide if you should be interviewed or hired. After you receive the reference's permission to serve (he or she must be willing to be contacted by prospective employers), collect the following information about each reference: |
ˇ
Full
name and title, if any. (Titles would include Colonel, Doctor,
Professor, Judge)
ˇ
Phonetic
pronunciation of the
reference’s name (if required). For example: “Sienkiewicz” is
pronounced: “sin’-cavage.”
ˇ
Job
Title
ˇ
Organization’s
name
ˇ
Full
business mailing address (try
to avoid post office boxes) including ZIP
ˇ
Daytime
phone number including area
code and the best time to call (if applicable)
ˇ
The
reference’s private e-mail
address (if available)
ˇ
The
reference’s professional relationship to you (former supervisor,
current vendor, colleague, and the like) and the number of years you
have known each other professionally.
| Your
references can make or break your career. n Do you really know what they will say about you? |
|
|
It is
important to discover information the interviewer will hear before your interview.
You should have a complete dossier on your references including how
long it took to get a response, general tone, and verbatim quotes. How
do you accomplish this? |
Top 5 to Stay Alive: Insider
Information to Help Your References Help You
The better the job, the more likely
your references will be checked—and in detail. Therefore, good references can increase your chances of being
hired. And bad references
can eliminate you from consideration, even if your
professional skills have always been excellent.
According
to Terra Dourlain, an expert in the field of references checking, about
half of all references checked are mediocre or poor contributors to a
job seeker’s success. Here are some “red-flag” examples of actual
comments made by references:
“Our
company policy prohibits us from saying anything. All we are able to do
is verify dates of employment and job titles. However, if I were you, I
would check his references very, very carefully.”
“Are
you certain she gave my name as a
reference?”
“Is he still
in this field?”
Here are
things you can do now
to help control this important part of your career search:
1. Speak with your references. Of
course, you want to get the references’ permission to serve. But you
can do much more to make it easy for references to speak well of you. Give them a copy of your résumé. It will show them what kinds
of positions you are seeking. And it will remind them of your track
record.
2. Tell them what you have done so far in your job search. Show them that you are serious about your career. And consider adding them to your network by asking if they know of any organizations that might use your talents and energy.
3.
Reassure references
that what’s needed is not a string of adjectives, but rather their
impressions of you at work, solving problems. Try to meet personally
with each reference, if you can. Otherwise, telephone them. Please
avoid the impersonal impression email makes.
4. Confirm
your personal information.
Check with the human resources department of your recent employers to
verify that all information in your personnel file is correct.
5. Keep your references up to date. Let your references know which companies you have contacted. And once you are hired, please let them know that you appreciated their help. Send each one a thank you note.