There are many places throughout our lives that we will refer to when making life decisions. It may be an experience we had, a word of advice from someone we value or an “ah – hah moment” we had about our life and/or career that guides us during the times when choices matter. Employers and interviewers share this philosophy when making hiring decisions. Even after interviewing candidates, hiring managers will still ask for a List of References so that they can speak to people directly about any thoughts, impressions and praise/concerns about the person being considered as a future employee.

Keen employers will use the process of reference and background checks as a means for more than information that may rule out a candidate, but also to gather information about how to position a new hire for success within the organization. Asking the right questions and listening carefully can result in valuable information an employer can use for successful “on-boarding.”

In our culture of social media, employers are becoming more interested and proficient in performing some of their own sleuthing through background checks to see what kind of person a candidate may be. This way they can determine if any concerns are raised while viewing their online profiles, statements that have been made, pics that have been posted and any associations/affiliations a candidate may have. We used to call this “stalking” and some have called it “creeping” but in reality these are points of reference when making a hiring decision and have become the new normal. Note to self – clean up social media profiles, make revisions to create stronger employer impressions and/or “grow up” ; )

As a candidate you have more power in this process than you realize. You can create points of reference that can increase your chances of making it to the job offer if you are intentional about a few things:

1. Target people that can speak about your successes and strengths from both your work and volunteer positions in support of your new career goal.
2. Contact your targeted references by phone and ask for a coffee or phone meeting to discuss your hopes of them being a reference (referee) for you as you move toward securing your next career.
3. Create a list of things to discuss with them about the experiences that you will be highlighting during your interview. This will both help you identify where you can best demonstrate your skills as well as remind them about what you did in the role(s) you played while in their employ.
4. Share some areas you feel needed strengthening and that stood out as your weaknesses when you worked for them and what you have been doing since to improve them. Then, ask them if they can think of anything else you can do to improve yourself professionally.
5. Ask them if they know “any people you could talk to or places you could look” in the field/profession you are now pursuing. This one question can produce significant results in tapping their network and leveraging the relationship you have with them for potential career success.
6. If they offer you a letter, kindly accept, but politely persist on having them on your Reference List so that a future employer can call to speak with them directly. Employers will most often try to speak with 2-3 references and will rarely even ask for reference letters.
7. Send the people on your List of References a copy of your new resume so that they can see how you have demonstrated your employment in their company and others.

It is always rewarding when a conversation with a previous employer turns into a fresh validation of skills and abilities, a valuable network contact and at times a new job offer.

There are also areas of concern around references in relation to bad employment experiences, termination of employment or companies that will not provide references, and issues around international time zones and language. Feel free to contact me about any concerns you may have or to set up a career coaching appointment.

I hope this blog post will serve as another point of reference for you as you move toward your own career success!

Regards,

Russell Garrett
DAP Career Consultant
dapcareersupport@sauder.ubc.ca