Resumes Win Interviews, But References Win Job Offers
| October 8, 2009 | Posted by admin under DECLARE - Network/Interview, DECODE - Assess/Plan |
Resumes Win Interviews, But References Win Job Offers
10 Ways to Utilize Your References
By Heidi M. Allison, Managing Director, JobReferences.com
Inquiring minds want to know, and no minds are more inquiring than those about to hire you. Rest assured, you will be investigated. As a rule of thumb, the better the job, the higher the pay, – the tougher the screening process. If you are up for a good job at a visible company, your references will be checked in great detail. Be aware that your list of references is simply the beginning of the investigation a prospective employer will conduct.
When a prospective employer has completed the first round of interviews and you are in the group of top candidates, the next logical step is to check your references and interview those individuals to whom you reported. Are you certain these individuals will seal the deal or will they blow it away? If you are like most people you probably haven’t given your references much thought. Instead you have focused on your resume, interview skills, networking and what to wear to the interview. Now the focus shifts. Your biggest concern should be the quality of your references and recommendations from past employers, because they can make or break your chances.
About half of all references that get checked, according to Heidi M. Allison, Managing Director of Allison & Taylor Reference Checking Inc., range from mediocre to poor. So it is very possible that the great job you lost out on at the last moment had nothing to do with your lack of skills, or being overqualified. It could have had more to do with what one of your references or past employers said about you. So if you are concerned that someone, somewhere, might be giving you a bum rap, there is a one in two chance that you are right. That’s a frightening scenario when your livelihood is at stake.
Here is just a sampling of the comments HR people and line managers hear when they check references: “Our company policy prohibits us saying anything. All we are able to do is verify dates of employment and title.” Then they have gone on to say things like, “Check his references very, very carefully.” Other common conversations include: “Are you certain he gave my name as a reference?”; “Although we are currently in litigation…”; “We miss him very much.”; “After we settle our lawsuit”; “Let me see what the paperwork says I am able to give out regarding ______.”; or they seem very surprised and make other innuendoes such as: “Is he still in this field?”
References and past employers won’t call and warn you that they are not going to be complimentary. With company policies changing (not that many choose to follow them anyway), new employees in HR Departments, new laws concerning references, company liability when they give references, the reference situation is ever changing and is therefore very volatile. So, you are well advised to take more control of your career momentum by finding out just what every potential reference will say about you. If the odds hold, as they will, those references will range from stellar all the way on down; yet when you know who is going to say what about you, you can pass on your best references with greater confidence. Plus you will have the opportunity to stop references saying things that are not true. Here are ten winning ways to utilize your references
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