DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR REFERENCES ARE SAYING ABOUT YOU?
by Rebecca Kay
2011, Apr 15
One of the areas that I find most clients fall short is at the finish line where they fail to call and prepare their references. A recipe for disaster!
At the beginning of a career search, begin to think about who should be a reference. Most employers will ask you to provide them with three or four personal and professional references as well as the type of relationship and length of time known. I will encourage you to aim for a list of up to twelve personal and twelve professional references. Now, before you begin to scream and howl like a wounded animal, remember not every person on your list will be the perfect reference for every situation.
The list should be presented with the top three or four personal and professional references for this particular job. Let the recruiter know that you have alternatives if they are unable to reach someone on your list. (If you have ever wondered why it takes so long to get back with you it is usually because they couldn’t reach one of your references.)
Do your references have a copy of your resume…..access to your past performance metrics? Are they prepared to give good examples of your performance? If NOT, prepare them! DO NOT take the chance that the information is not in front of them before a call comes their way.
There are times that I have had a reference refuse to provide a feedback at the time of the call even after they had given permission to use their name simply because they were not kept in the loop about your job search. I believe it was because they felt unprepared to speak to your performance without knowing more about the position in consideration. Think about it, if a reference isn’t knowledgeable, excited and prepared, what does that say about you? Even a great reference could kill the job opportunity because they were caught off guard.
Keep your references up to date on your career search. Let them know the name of the company, the title of the position, specifically what part of your background and experience you would like them to emphasize, and if possible the name and title of the person who might be calling.
Finally, there is nothing more shocking than to assume all your references are going to provide glowing reports of you performance and what you bring to a new organization so DO NOT ASSUME!!! Having performed numerous reference checks over the years I have had references challenge a candidate’s background, dates of employment, job responsibilities as well as disclose personal information all in an effort to be “helpful.” So, share a copy of the resume you used for this job as well as any pertinent performance metrics that will allow them to be a great reference.
Remember, it can end up costing you the job!