Who Should You Really List as Your Professional References?
Upon reading?a?job?description, you see that it requires at least three?references. But?you have?never?needed to?provide?references?before! What should you do??Whom?should you put as your reference??What makes a reference professional??
Let’s?start with whom?you?should?not?list as a reference.?Believe it or not, this list is?much?longer than?that?of those you?should?list. To name a few, you should stay away from including your family, past employers whom you have bad blood with, or employers that you have not worked for in a long time.??
Your?parents?probably have?a lot of good things to say about you. They would mention how you were such a good kid;?always doing your chores,?getting good grades, and?going to?bed on time. But, unfortunately, listing?family?members?is an unprofessional move to make when applying for a job. They are?usually?around you when you are?outside?of work. Your?actions in the workplace?regarding?the work that you get done, or the way you go about socializing in the workplace?can’t?be verified by?your family. Additionally, there is a bias present with any?statement?that a?family member?makes.??
In one of your recent jobs, you may have done some amazing work to?benefit?the?organization. But if you?left?on?bad terms with your?previous?employer,?listing them is not?a good?idea.?It?is entirely possible that they?may?mention the?efforts?you?made to?benefit?the organization, but whatever negatives that were left unresolved prior to your?leaving?may be brought up as well. If you would like to?give?a good?first impression, it is best to leave out?employers?that you?are?no longer?on good terms?with.??
Along with connections that you are no longer on good terms with, it is?almost equally?as unwise to add a professional reference from an organization that you?haven’t?been employed at for more than five years.?In five years, you have more than enough time to?make new connections in the workplace.?By using?outdated references, there?is nobody that can?validate?that you have done any credible work that is relevant to the job you are applying for within?recent years.???
So,?who?should?you add to your list of references when applying for a job???
You should add those who you have made a genuine connection with, especially if it was in a professional setting.?It’s?one thing to add?someone?from your past, but it?makes?all the difference if?you got along well with?who you?have?added.??
Think back to?an?organization?that you have worked for in the past five years. Can you confidently say that your?supervisor/employer will speak positively of you? Adding a past employer whom?you impressed with?your work is an excellent idea. As someone who oversaw you, they are?easily?one of the best individuals that you can include as a reference.?The praise that they gave you while you worked for them will come back again when the hiring manager contacts?them?to ask about you.??
Additionally, past coworkers and?colleagues are a top-tier reference to use. Not only did they?observe?how you work in a?professional?setting, but they also had the chance to work?with you.?They know what it is like to work together with you in a team effort towards a common?goal,?and?have?witnessed?first-hand how you handle situations that require problem-solving.?
Depending on how old you are, or when the last time you took classes was, you can include your teachers or professors.?The instructors that you?met with after class to?help?you understand the material,?the teacher that could always rely on?you?to have the correct answer during class, or the professor who was thoroughly impressed by the?amount?of detail?you put into that final paper?make for excellent references.??
If you volunteer on the weekends, a reference that you can list is the project coordinator, another?position holder on staff, or someone else who is also regularly involved?if you have gotten to know them.?They’ll?be able to go into depth on the details of the cause(s) that you support as well as how much?time outside of?work you spend giving back?to the community.?
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Don’t?really volunteer on the?weekend??How about your social life? Using close friends?shouldn’t?be your first choice, and they?aren’t?as great of a pick as a past employer.?But if you?don’t?have enough ideal professional references, and you need to resort to friends, you should list twice as many.?A?close friend?can?inform the hiring manager?on?what you are like outside of work.?Friends?can mention your commitment to going to the gym regularly for your physical health, how you let them stay on their couch when?they had?nowhere?to go,?the time you saved?someone from choking in college, etc.?(On the basis that they are not?lying of course)??
Finally, when you apply for a job that asks for references, make sure that you ask the people you would like to include if they are okay with it. It is not polite to?give away someone’s personal information unknowingly, and it looks very unprofessional if the?hiring manager calls/emails?one of your references and they were not?told that you gave away their email and/or phone number.?
Written by:
Spencer Ford
Marketing Contributor
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