All job seekers want to know how to properly list references, how many references should they provide, how much detail is needed. I came across this excellent post on the Career Management Alliance Elist and I thought it was extremely insightful and informative... Thanks to Don Orlando for his permission to share with you...
By Don Orlando, MBA, CPRW, JCTC, CCM, CCMC
Employers will want three to five professional references. A professional reference can speak about your performance on the job. Good professional references may be recent supervisors, co-workers (not subordinates), customers, vendors or suppliers, pro-bono clients, or volunteer committee members. Use friends or members of the clergy only as a last resort. They cannot give employers much of the information they need to decide if you should be interviewed or hired
After you get the references’ permission to serve (their willingness to be contacted by prospective employers), please give me (email preferred) the following information about each one:
• Full name and title, if any. (Titles would include Colonel, Doctor, Professor, Judge)
• Phonetic pronunciation of the reference’s name (if required). For example: "Sienkiewicz" is pronounced: "sin’-cavage."
• Job Title
• Organization’s name
• Full business mailing address (try to avoid post office boxes) including ZIP
• Daytime phone number including area code and the best time to call (if applicable)
• The reference’s private e-mail address (if available)
• The reference’s professional relationship to you (former supervisor, current vendor, colleague, and the like) and the number of years you have known each other professionally.
You may improve your chances greatly if you have a powerful LinkedIn page, particularly if your page includes recommendations and endorsements. If you have such a page, and you are satisfied it represents you powerfully, please include the URL to your page when you email the other information listed above. If you are not confident about your LinkedIn presence, or you’re not yet on LinkedIn, I can help.
Don Orlando, MBA, CPRW, JCTC, CCM, CCMC
One of America's first personal, professional executive career coaches Member, Board of Directors, Career Management Alliance Monthly columnist: Professional Association of Resume Writers; regular
contributor: Netshare.com
Published in more than 56 collections of the best resumes in the United States, Canada, and Australia 334.264.2020 - 334.264.9227 (fax) yourcareercoach@charterinternet.com
