When you read through advice about how to get a job despite the tough job market, one of the things you will come across again and again will be that you need to provide really good references. That the references you provide could be a deal breaker when it comes to a bosses final decision about whether or not they should hire you. Before you send off your references, you need to sit down and ask yourself some reference check questions and make sure your using the right references. Don’t try to buy time by saying your references will be available at the management’s request. Have everything ready to go when you submit your application.
Read through the job posting very carefully, not only do you want to make sure that you really do have all the qualification and traits the management team wants, you also want to look and see if they provide a number of references they would like. If the job posting doesn’t state anything about the number of references they need, you should try including 4 or 5. Work place experts suggest making sure you have at least two more references then you submit with your application just in case the management team decides they would like to see more.
Another thing you will want to look for when reading the job posting is the type of references the management team wants. If you see the words profession job references, you might have to rethink which letters you send along. Professional references means the company wants to hear what people who have worked with you think, not what friends have to say. If a job posting calls for professional references you will want to include letters from
- Supervisors
- Co-workers
- Customers you established a relationship with
Your professional references will look even better if they come from someone involved with the industry you’re trying to get employed into.
You really don’t want the people whose names you have provided as work references to be surprised when they get a call from someone who wants to know more about you. While you wait for an interview to be arranged, you should get in touch with each person whose name you supplied and give them a heads up that they should be expecting a call from a person who will be asking reference check questions. Not only does this give them some warning and time to collect their thoughts, but it also provides you with an opportunity to double check your contact information.
Don’t try seconding guessing the reference check questions the interviewer will be asking your professional resource, and trying to make your interview questions compatible. The only thing that accomplishes is creating a jarring, rough interview. Answer each question you’re asked honestly, and hope your references do the same.
