Hot topics for both consumers and webmarketers on WebmasterRadio.FM
Every Wednesday, 4PM Eastern.
Q: What do I do about references?
Answer(s) to this Question (
1 / 2
)
Ask Permission
Call your former supervisors and ask permission before you list them as references on your job applications. By letting them know that they may receive a call about you, you are giving them time to remember your strengths. You'll also increase the chances that they will quickly return a missed call from your interviewer.
Don´t Bother With These!
Neither recruiters nor a potential employer is interested in personal references. Of course your brother in law is going to say great things about you or you wouldn´t list him. Your friend on your weekend baseball team may say you can hit a ball far but what has that got to do with your career? Nor do you need to bother with written job reference letters from previous employment addressed to: To Whom It May Concern. Your recruiter or the employer want to ask their own questions through conversation; it yields much more telling information. The written professional reference letters are usually fairly simple and generic. If the conversation duplicates the written reference, great. But the person conducting the reference will want to find out for himself.
LifeTips is part of ideaLaunch, the hub for a group of websites offering
solutions that help clients improve mind share, market share and profit online.