When you are looking for a new job, at some point during the hiring process, you will almost certainly have to provide a list of references to your new potential employer.
Candidates can rehearse their job interview answers and polish their resumes to make a professional impression on hiring managers. Companies want to find out whether or not that impression is a genuine reflection of the applicant by speaking with some people who have actually worked with them in person.
So, when you are beginning your job search campaign, it's best to have in mind who your professional references will be. For many people, the natural assumption is that they will use their three most recent employers or managers as their references. If it turns out that you had an excellent working relationship with those three people and they would all highly recommend you to future employers as a great hire, then use them.
However, that isn't always the case. This is because when people change jobs, it is usually because of their relationship with their manager. The common saying in the industry is that people don't leave jobs, they leave bosses. And if you have left a recent job because of a negative working relationship with your boss, you certainly don't want to be counting on that person to be a reference for you for future opportunities.
Choose your references carefully
Select three people you have previously worked with who would be happy to speak well of your on-the-job abilities and your work ethic. These must be people who enjoyed working with you. The most important question that your new potential employer will ask your references is, "If you had the opportunity, would you hire this candidate to work with you again?"
If they hesitate at all to say that they would be enthusiastic about the idea of working with you again, your prospects plummet.
Ideally, these will be people who you worked for in some capacity, even if they are not your most recent employers. If you are currently employed and looking to job hop, obviously you won't use your actual employer as a reference. You most likely don't want them to know that you are looking for another job until you have already been hired for one.
However, if you aren't certain that your previous bosses will wholeheartedly recommend you for the new job, don't use them as your references. Consider listing a coworker who can speak highly of your work and of working with you. Partners you have worked with, other department heads that you collaborated with, and even clients to whom you provided outstanding service or results can all be potential references.
The key is to select three individuals who know you in a professional capacity and who genuinely like you and wish you well.
When to give your references to an employer
You have to provide a list of professional references to a potential employer when they ask for them. Do not include them with your job application or list them on your resume. You aren't likely to be interviewed for every job that you apply for, and employers who don't interview you won't be checking your references anyway.
It is important that you give your references a heads up that they might be getting a call. Let them know in advance what job you are being screened for and how your previous work with them is relevant to it. It will make it easier for your advocates to speak to your potential in a role if they have had the chance to think about it ahead of time.
Another reason to reach out to your references before submitting their names to a potential employer is to ensure that you have their up-to-date contact information. Since these are professional connections, you most likely have their work email addresses and phone numbers on file. People may have changed jobs or locations since you were last in contact with them.
Get in touch with each of your professional references before providing them to the potential employer to be certain that they are comfortable recommending you for the role and to confirm their current job title and contact details.
How to format your references
Prepare a separate document for your list of professional references. Keep the document stylistically consistent with your resume and cover letter by using the same font face and size. Save your references document in the same file format as your resume and cover letter, whether pdf or Word document. This way your documents form a cohesive professional package.
Have a bolded title for the document, "Professional References for Joe Candidate."
Then list each of the people you have chosen to be your references with their updated contact information and the company information where you worked together. Follow these details with a brief description of your working relationship and why they have been selected to refer you.
For example:
Joan Employerson
Director of Marketing
ACME Corp.
Laval, QC
450 555-1234
[email protected]
I worked with Joan Employerson for two years from 2018 to 2020. She originally hired me as the Marketing Coordinator for ACME Corp.'s Quebec market, and then she later promoted me to Marketing Manager for all of Canada.
Or
Mario Bossly
Vice President Marketing
DEC Co.
ACME Corp.
Canada
416 555-5678
[email protected]
I served under Mario Bossly when he was the Vice President of Marketing at ACME Corp. until 2020. When he left the company to take a role with DEC Co. in Toronto, Mario hired me to come and join him at the new company, where I worked under him again for another year.
As with all of your job application documents, be sure to proofread your reference list carefully. Spelling mistakes and typos here will look just as sloppy and unprofessional as they do in your resume. Plus, spell check and a casual scan of the document won't pick up any mistakes you may have made in an email address or a phone number. Be sure to double-check all of these thoroughly.
It would be a shame to lose out on a career opportunity because the employer was unable to hear your glowing reference from a former boss due to a mistyped digit in their phone number.
If you have many years of work experience at a variety of companies – and great working relationships with people at all of them – you may have an abundance of potential references to choose from. If this is the case, pick the ones where the work or your particular accomplishments would be most relevant to the job that you are applying for. Just like you write a specific cover letter for a job and tailor your resume for the role, you can customize your list of references.
The more relevant all aspects of your application are to the specific needs of the employer, the better your chances of being hired.
