I found a great article today on Wise Bread about job references, below are tips. A lot of my friends are trying to find jobs out of college, but none of them want to put time into applying for jobs the correct way (cover letters, resumes, having crazy Facebook profile pictures, and so on).
Job references can be VERY helpful in your job search. When I was applying for jobs, my references were constantly being called. Here are tips to help you go about this process.
- First off, who do you ask? You should think about jobs you used to have or maybe even professors. You should still be on good terms with these people (this should be a given). I know so many people who get fired from a job and then they put their old boss as their reference. This isn’t the best idea. You want someone who will talk about all of the great things you can do! When I was looking for jobs, my current employer was great. She would tell everyone such great things about me and it really did make me feel extremely loved at my job. Nearly every job that I was offered, the hiring manager would talk about all of the nice things that my boss said.
- Now how do you contact this person? Make sure you ask this person if they are willing to be your reference. They should be very willing to do this. It is proper etiquette to call or meet your reference to ask them to be your reference, I wouldn’t usually e-mail them.
- What should you tell your references? Update them on what you have been doing lately and tell them what jobs you are applying for.
Do you have any tips regarding job references?
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Jennʻs Adventureʻs says
Great tips Michelle! I can't stress enough how important it is to INFORM the people you put as references — I've been blindsided once or twice, and it's always super awkward! I usually have the same three references regardless of position and let them all know they will forever and always be my references;) PS: definitely try that mac 'n cheese recipe!
Michelle P says
I know, that's happened to me before too! Someone put me down as a reference and when the hiring person called, I was completely confused because I didn't really even know the person that well.
Louise says
good advice! the other thing is sending them a copy of the job you're applying for so they know what sort of skills & experience to highlight when they are giving the reference.
Rafiki says
I really need to work on getting references. I applied for a job just this past week and was stuck at choosing someone as a reference. I felt kinda bad that I didn't have anyone who could qualify as a good reference.