Job references should be itemised with care

Job references are individuals whose names you make available to your prospective employers to back and espouse your application for a particular job. They are also used to denote letters of recommendations for the same purpose. References are contacted for obtaining additional information or seeking clarifications about your qualifications and suitability. They are supposedly expected to respond about the correctness and truthfulness of facts in your CV by providing frank opinions about inter alia, your rectitude, dexterities and disposition, etc.

In the light of the above, itemising job references should be a part of your job search. How should you go about doing so?

The best way is to establish contact with the references you have in mind before you actually make their names available to your prospective employers. In other words, you need to seek their permission to use them. However, the decision to use who and for what is dependent on you, but they should be most pertinent to the post being applied for. The references that you identify should be informed in advance about the type of information and feedback that will help you if a prospective employer get in touch with or drops a line to them. And of course, you must fall back to them and express your gratitude. The following skills will invariably be commented upon by your references:

· Social attitude, including your capacity to work in a team & communication skills.

· Readiness to go along a manager’s lead, reliability & trustworthiness.

· Self-confidence & capacity to withstand stress.

· Leadership qualities & crisis management skills.

As an integral component of various documents and information of your job search, it will stand you in good stead if you make available to prospective employers letters of reference. Such letters could be from your current employers to include your line manager or others. Even letters of reference from clients or social personages will not be out of place. Your prospective employer will thus get to know details of your present work, your execution skills, accomplishments, and social disposition. It is always advisable to obtain all such certificates and testimonials when you are leaving a company because at that point of time, your association and dexterities will be alive. However if you request for a letter of reference after significant time has elapsed, there is every likelihood that people may not be in a position to recall relatable information.

An annual confidence report rendered by any of your previous line managers can also prove to be a good reference about your competence. In certain situations, the concerned individual could be more than favourably disposed towards you and will have no objection to you showing a draft of the certificate that you seek to obtain. A minor amendment is all that could be necessary before the letter of reference is signed. While this will be more an exception rather than a rule, the important point is that such a document will economise on both time and exertion. The major advantage of course will be that you will have in hand a well-tailored and effective letter.

In Western countries, it is mandatory for you to acquiesce to any move by employers to verify your antecedents and confer your application with your previous employers. The practice is fast catching up in India and multinational companies invariably resort to this. Western laws stipulate the degree of information that can be shared about a previous employee because any incorrect assessments or pictures conveyed always have the potential of being drawn to court.

A reference may speak highly of you in the recommendation letter, but provides a blend of both positive and adverse aspects to your prospective employer. If you feel that you have not got a call-letter because of this, it will not be out of place to request a friend to establish contact with the concerned employer as part of an ersatz reference check to ascertain additional information regarding judgements rendered on you. It will be your sole discretion to fall back to the person to bridge any gaps that may have surfaced or take a call on whether to continue making use of the reference in question.

Most job seekers have doubts on whether job experience should be enumerated in the CV in detail or not so that reference checks that have the potential of any belittling or stigmatisation are precluded. But it is always to your advantage if you mention your job experience in your CV. Things could well be in your favour if you diligently apprise your potential employer about the possibility of receiving an unfavourable feedback and succinctly explicate your version of facts. Any attempt to omit your work experience in your resume could lead to more serious ramifications.

Having another professional speak on your behalf as a reference is an important and critical component of your job search. To that extent, the process of deciding on a reference should be a well-considered one.