Will your references help you get that job? Or is the whole method an antiquated notion?
Putting in a good word
Choose your friends carefully
“Pick business people,” Fletcher says. Meaning, don’t worry about listing your last boss, especially if he or she might phone in a mealy mouthed endorsement. And omit the friends, frat buddies, pastors, and professors who can’t really speak to your professional conduct, unless your colleagues number among your friends. “If the CEO of your last company is now your best friend, say it’s the CEO,” Shapiro says, adding that if he or she isn’t allowed to give out professional references, “have them do it off the clock as their personal opinion.”
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Younger job seekers can be forgiven, perhaps, for thinking references — the lowly résumé footnote listed even farther down the page than the “skills and hobbies” section — are an antiquated formality. In fact, even career counselors aren’t sure they matter like they used to.
“The world has completely changed, and you can no longer control what an employer thinks about you by getting three people lined up as references,” says Louise Fletcher, president of Blue Sky Résumés. “I can look you up on MySpace and Twitter and see what you wrote on a forum, so I don’t need to rely so much on calling three people.
Hiring managers “still do it,” Fletcher says, “but it’s mostly a CYA [cover your ass] thing.”
Career consultant Cynthia Shapiro agrees, yet still believes in the relevance of references. “Every time a hiring manager recommends someone for employment, their job is on the line,” she says.
That means the powers-that-hire are after testimony that will justify their decision to bring you on, should you turn out to be a disastrous hire. And because many large corporations — for fear of lawsuits — will only tell callers your name, title and dates of employment, hiring managers often struggle to gather positive offline feedback on professionalism.
So finding that trio of colleagues willing to put in the good word can nudge you across the finish line.
“If you look like the safest bet,” Shapiro says, “you will actually get the job over other people with better skills, because hiring managers have to protect themselves.”
