SERIES: References

Stewarding the Relationship

With there being so many challenging parts of the job-search process, references is one that oftentimes ends up overlooked…until it’s too late! It’s an exciting moment to finally make the cut and get to the point where your interviewer is asking for professional references, but that excitement quickly morphs into panic if you’re not prepared.

In this first of three installments, we’re going to look at some general ideas on how you can proactively take control. This will make sure you always have professional references at your fingertips.

Creative ways to get references

First and foremost, always leave on good terms. Sometimes, this is easier said than done, but you’ll thank yourself in the future. It’s always unfortunate to have invested years with an organization and not have any positive references.

If someone leaves your current company ask them to be a future reference. Even if you’re not looking for a new job at the moment. Definitely stay in touch! In a later installment, we’ll go over several ways you can go about staying in touch in very easy ways. This is super important in situations where you need a reference from your current position but you don’t want to alert your current supervisors that you’re thinking about leaving. Using a former supervisor is a brilliant workaround.

My company has a no references policy

This happens a lot, but it’s important to ask the question and see what happens anyway. If you ask for a reference, the worst that could happen is that you’ll get a “no.” But sometimes, they are willing to give you their personal contact information so they can do it off the radar. Or some companies won’t allow professional references, but they may allow a personal reference (which frequently ends up morphing into a professional reference anyway).

The next blog topic will focus more on staying in touch with professional references so you always have them. In the meantime, good luck with tackling your references strategy!

Contributors
Adam Lafield, Recruiter
Tiffany Appleton, Director, Accounting & Finance Division