Your resume and cover letter are up to date and professionally executed. You’ve practiced your interview responses and studied up on the company you want to join. You’ve even invested in a new wardrobe and gotten a sharp haircut.
But are your references as well groomed as your scalp?
Experts agree that many job seekers make a fatal tactical error by failing to prep their references or assuming that they’ll be able to sweep negative opinions of their work history under the carpet. Here are three ways to make sure you’re ready for the reference check:
1. Unprepared references can hurt you without knowing it.
TheLadders columnist John O’Connor recently recounted a cautionary tale about the danger of providing references whom you haven’t updated about your activities. “My own CIO at my company actually disputed two facts on my resume!” one job seeker told O’Connor. “When one of the reference checkers called, they found out that I had given him an old version of a resume.” Because the reference was unaware of a large project the applicant had completed after they’d worked together, he inadvertently made the job seeker appear less than truthful.
Moral: Make sure your references know what you’ve been up to, and provide them with your latest resume. In addition, counsel your references to ensure you both agree on what will be said if someone calls. Get agreement on key achievements and resume points.
2. Don’t assume former employers can’t slag you.
Too many job seekers figure they can avoid sticky spots in their employment histories because HR departments aren’t able to say anything negative about former employees or dig up dirt on current candidates. That’s a dangerous assumption, according to a CIO.com column by Jeffrey Shane, vice president of Allison & Taylor Inc., a professional reference-check and employment-verification company. “While many companies have policies that dictate that they can only discuss a former employee’s title, dates of employment, and eligibility for rehire, people break those rules every day,” Shane writes. “Over 50 percent of Allison & Taylor’s job seeker clients receive a bad reference, despite the strict policies their previous employers have in place.”
3. Don’t underestimate the importance of reference checks.
For a highly placed view of the role of references in the hiring process, check out Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s comments to the New York Times: “I didn’t used to believe so much in reference checks. You can always get somebody to say something nice about you. But the truth is, if you ask enough questions and you ask around, you can really get a profile of who’s accomplished various things and who hasn’t.”
