Job Online Blog

The three whales, supporting your job search process, should be: your resume (curriculum vitae), cover letter, and references from your previous employers. The big mistake of many is ignoring the last one – it is as important as the other two.

One might say that most employers ask for references only at the point when they make a job offer, so it does not really matter if you have them or not. This is only partially true: normally the reference are required at the final stage of the interview only, however if there are several candidates for the same job position, the preference is most likely to be given to the one who has the most reliable referrers. Ideally, you should have three job references (of course, you can have more than that, but not less) – this is the usual expectations of the most of Human Resources or recruitment agencies representatives.

You can get recommendations from the people you reported to in you past job role. Normally there are two or three of them, so pick those you used to have the best rapport with, and ask them to provide you with job references for the future employment search.

What if you do not have any corporate working experience? The best choice here is to get references from your university professors or advisors; another option could be leaders of social organizations, in the activity of which you have been involved. Some job seekers also tend to prepare personal references as well, and it is indeed good to have one at hand, because some employers require those; however I would not recommend having more than one personal reference. You also need keep in mind that this type of reference should anyway be from a person with a relevant title.

Another question one can face when preparing job references is When those need to be ready. As discussed in the first paragraph, most employers require references at the final stage of the interview only. Nevertheless, the best idea is to have them ready by the date of the initial interview – you might be asked to provide references even then; thus you will have a chance to make an impression of an organized, businesslike individual. And the first impression counts a lot.

Finally, do not forget to let your referrers know that you are job hunting at the moment, as well as remember to thank them when settled in your new job position.