Job Interview References Question

Don,

After over 25 years with my company as an Admin Assistant, my job was
eliminated. Their policy is not to provide any information about a
former employee – just how long they were there and their title. If
supervisors and co-workers I worked with are prohibited from providing
references, how do I handle this?

————————————————————————
—

Millie,

I would find other references, or just list those people anyway and
probably the latter. Let your interviewer figure out that they are not
permitted to communicate. It’s still a reference, and who knows, maybe
those people will accidentally slip-up and start babbling about all the
great things you did there. But under no circumstances should you tell
your interviewer that these people are not allowed to provide any
information.

Don

Job References Writing

The key to job references writing is to use the names of professional
associates you have come to know and trust. Don’t used friends or
family, but focus on putting down people on your references list that
you have worked with in your career and who can vouch for you and your
work.

Your job references should be people you have worked with who are also
in the same industry as you. Think about it, if you’re seeking a job as
a programmer with Microsoft, and one of your references is a bread maker
you used to work with many years ago, then no matter how many good
things the bread maker says about you, it just won’t carry much weight
with Microsoft.

You want recent references from people who can not only vouch for your
character, but the quality of work that you do. Having another
programmer as one of your references is much more powerful than a bread
maker. The bread maker is a huge over exaggeration, but I think you see
my point.

Make sure you call each one of your job references and personally ask
them if it’s ok if you put them down as a job reference. And most
importantly, make sure you are positive these people will give you a
good reference. If you are slightly unsure about someone, then don’t
use them.

I have a sample job reference list and a guide to format a list of job references in my job reference blog category. 

Your job references can be past co-workers, managers, even customers. I
generally list about four to six different references on my references
page.

Also, it’s not a good idea to put “references available upon request” on
your resume. If an employer wants them, then they’ll ask you. Don’t
volunteer references either – it’s just too pushy. If an employer is
getting ready to make you an offer then they will ask you for references
and if they do, this is also the time to give them any letters of
recommendation you may have. Again, don’t volunteer letters of
recommendation either.

Try not to wear out your job references either and give them a call
every now and then and keep in touch. Let them know how you are doing
and that you really appreciate them acting as a reference for you.

Job references writing.