Making Job References Work For You
By
Bill Benitez

        Employers want to make certain that new employees are honest, reliable and competent. The training process for most jobs is complex and time consuming. Most companies will take time to carefully check out someone before hiring them to make certain they will not be wasting time training them.

            A prospective employer can only assume that you possess the qualities described in your resume. A good resume will certainly highlight all the things that make you an attractive applicant to a potential employer. The only way a prospective employer can determine the accuracy of your resume is by checking your references.

            While having good references is important, confirmation that they exist is critical. If your prospective employer gets a wrong number, no answer, or the voice mail of someone who never returns a call, it is unlikely that you will receive serious consideration for any good position.

            As the manager of several government funded programs for many years, I had the opportunity to review many resumes. Some were very impressive and included references. The most common problem with most resumes was that many of the listed references simply didn’t respond. Sometimes we would get through to someone but they were unable to even confirm the dates of employment. When these efforts were fruitless, the resume would be discarded and the individual lost all chance of employment.

Most of these applicants were applying for good paying and highly responsible jobs so our calls left me wondering why anyone would waste time applying without making certain their references were of help to them. There are some Human Resources departments that make additional efforts to glean information about applicants. My feeling was that if they were careless when applying for the job, it was an indication of how they would handle the job itself.

Do you really know who your references are? Can you call them on the phone and be recognized and acknowledged? Will they respond positively to a request for employment information? If so, your references will probably contribute to getting your new position. If any of them won’t respond, remove them from your reference list promptly.

Create a separate form entitled References that lists all of your references and complete contact information for them. This should always include their mail address and phone number and can also include an email address. Consider carefully whom you will list as a reference and how their reference information will help you.
 
Naturally, the ideal is a manager you worked for who can vouch for your professional abilities. However, there are other people who can contribute to your references. Perhaps some coworkers or a supervisor in a different section may have worked with you and appreciates your skills. The important thing is to find people who can attest to the quality of your work performance and ask permission to use them as a reference.
Obtaining good references can be fairly easy if you have developed them by exhibiting good work habits. On the other hand, it can be quite difficult for a person who does little more than what is absolutely necessary. It should be no surprise that the best references are based on the way you perform your job and how you relate to the people you work with. Keep this in mind while you are still on the job and it will be easy to compile a good set of references.

Bill Benitez is the owner of EbooksandMore.com and author of the ebook “The Job Reference Manual: How To Make Job References Work For You.”

Email: billbenitez@gmail.com
Website: http://abenitez-ebooksandmore.com