In the last post we looked at the importance of your job references. If you are like most people, you probably haven’t given your references much thought. Instead, you have focused on your resume, interviewing skills, networking, and what to wear to the interview. If so, consider a necessary paradigm shift.
Your biggest concern should be the quality of your references and recommendations from past employers, because they will almost certainly make or break your chances.
Increasing Your Chances of a Good Reference
Here are some general rules of thumb to maximize your prospects with your job references:
1. Make sure your records are correct. Occasionally an interviewee looks bad because their former HR department did not have the same job date and title information in their file as the candidate did on their resume. Data entry or communications errors are not unusual, so check with your HR department to ensure that their records correspond to yours. Conflicting data will be perceived as a negative to a prospective employer.
2. Maintain active and positive relationships with your references. Stay in touch over the phone or over coffee. Keep the reference up-to-date about your progress, and make sure you have the most up-to-date information about them. If the reference’s title (or name) has changed, or if they’ve left their position and you’ve provided old information to the prospective employer, it doesn’t look good.
3. Advise a reference about an important opportunity. To avoid burning out your references, don’t contact them about every single job opportunity. However, if a particular position is very important to you, call the reference and give them details about what the company may be looking for.
4. Know reporting relationships. Even though you’ve given the senior vice president’s name as a reference, the prospective employer may resort to calling the director you reported to because she can’t reach the senior VP. Even though you have not given that person’s name as a reference, it is on the application that you probably filled out. You may want to advise your former boss about the potential for a reference check and explain what the company is looking for.
5. Know your company’s policy. Although federal law restricts reference information, some states now allow more extensive disclosure. Know which regulations and policies govern your company. In addition, be aware that some employees will intentionally or unknowingly break company policy in offering references. Make sure that works in your favor by checking with references to gain an understanding of what they might say.
6. Don’t rely on relatives or letters of recommendation. You are well advised not to let Uncle John regale a prospective employer about your antics as a youth. Also, although letters of recommendation can be helpful, information such as titles and even names can change over time. Make sure that the information on your letter of recommendation is correct by contacting the reference periodically.
7. Use a reference-checking service. If you want help in identifying your favorable (and unfavorable) references or if you find that you are losing too many opportunities after several interviews with an organization, you might want to commission a professional reference-checking service. Check to ensure that the service has the professional and legal personnel that can develop a strategic use of your references. Typical service fees range from $79 to $99 per reference checked, depending on level of job position being sought.
For information about Allison and Taylor, Inc.’s profession job reference checking services, click here.