In a competitive job market. References are the ultimate deal breaker! Will yours help (or hurt) your chances?
Too many candidates are satisfied with simply providing a uniform set of professional references for everyone. This has trouble written all over it. You can't just stick three names at the bottom of your resume and assume everything will work out for you. In this marketplace, it often times could come down to the wire with the reference check. You can't afford to have anything go wrong here.
You need to be in control and be actively involved in selecting the right people for each job, coordinating the communication and ultimately preparing your references to provide the most compelling endorsement of your background.
Let's begin by taking a look at what managers look for in a reference
Relevancy
Always skip personal references and stick to recent, professional relationships only. Past that, find out if the employer want a Manager, Peer or Subordinate ? Do they want someone from your most recent job or from prior jobs? This will establish the bulls-eye of what the employer really wants. Don't give blanket references out for every job. Try to wait until the final stage before providing these contacts and ask these questions upfront so that you can target your reference choices.
Responsiveness
What does it say about you if your reference doesn't return the employer's call for a week? Managers are typically pretty urgent when they get to this stage and a delayed response (or no response at all) will not bode well for you. To facilitate prompt communication, provide your reference's email in addition to both work and cell phone numbers. Secondly, always know when or if your references will be on vacation or traveling so that you can dodge any unintentional scheduling conflicts. If need be, you might even want to help coordinate them speaking by offering the employer the most ideal times to reach the reference.
Enthusiasm
You can guarantee a higher degree of enthusiasm by taking the time to personally call each of your references. Update them on the job/ company/ manager that may be calling. Stress how much you want this job and how important their reference will be to the final decision. If your reference knows how much this means to you, they'll give it the added umph to sell your background. And oh yeah..don't forget to thank them for doing this! Gratitude is a nice motivator (as is an offer to buy them lunch if you get the job!). Bottom line, you'll get your references to make more of an extra effort when YOU make the extra effort to call and speak to them about the job you are applying for.
Validation
And finally, yes, they are looking for someone to back up what you've told them about your background. When preparing your references, make sure they have all the details on the role so they can validate all the necessary facts. Also, make sure to share with the reference your opinion of what the employer may perceive to be your strengths and weaknesses. That way, they can prepare targeted commentary that is honest, but that also puts you in the most positive light.I would also recommend emailing them a job description if they have that available. The more on target the reference is, the better this will reflect upon you.
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