Professional References
There are many ways a job-seeker can prepare a list of references. Some people place them at the bottom of their resume, some email them in the body of an email and some have them on a separate page and email the document when requested. I would not recommend placing them at the bottom of your resume as it puts your reference out in the open to be contacted without your knowledge and it is also another way that recruiters use to find higher level candidates. If I were a reference on a resume and got contacted about a job from a recruiter who knew nothing about me I would be upset. That is why in my opinion it is best to provide references after they have been requested from the potential employer.
References are important, they can help you get the job or prevent you from getting the job. Most companies only contact your references if they are interested in learning more about your work ethics, performance and personality. That is why it is important to have reference that will speak honestly about you but who also hold you in a good light.
Deciding who you should use as a reference is an important decision. You don't want to list personal friends or family members as references because employers are looking for professional references. Good people to use as a reference are typically managers, supervisors, and coworkers. One thing to keep in mind when creating your list of references, while some states have laws about past employers speaking in a poor light about you doesn't mean that the wrong reference won't speak poorly about you. So it is important to select your references wisely as selecting the wrong person could hurt your chances.
Before giving a potential employer your references you will want to do two things. The first thing you will want to make sure that you have up to date and accurate information. This is important because let's say for example you list the main number to the company and your reference no longer works there the operator will probably do one of two things, one transfer the potential employer to the HR department where they will only give very generic information or two provide the potential employer with “The Work Number” which is what most large corporations use to provide reference information on past employees. In either scenario this doesn't provide the potential employer enough information to make a decision as they will typically only provide start and end date of employment, title and possibly salary.
The second thing you will want to do is make sure your references know that someone will be calling to ask them some questions about your background. There is nothing worse than the potential employer calling your reference multiple times with no response. This looks poorly on you and wastes the potential employer's time. Think of it this way, it could be down to you and one other candidate, both of you are equally qualified but their references get back to the potential employer first, the potential employer then makes their decision based off that information and you are out of that job.
Hopefully this helps provide a little more insight into the world of references and why they are important.
