What You Need to Know About Business

Asking Questions -- An Essential and Overlooked Step

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Putting a Spin on Work Experience

[Chapter 19: continued from here] Recall how the employer will suffer if they hire the wrong person. They're still nervous about their decision. Up to now, everything they've heard about you and what you can do has come from you (unless someone referred you). Maybe you have a delusionary view of your own capabilities. Or maybe you've made everything up.

They'd feel much more assured if some other source would corroborate what you've told them.

They'd also feel more excited by the possibility of having you work for them if they can hear directly from other employers, clients, or customers about the benefits that you've been able to provide in the past.

That's what you want to achieve with your references. You want to give the employer a way to confirm what you've claimed, and let them be excited by enthusiastic comments from people you've already helped.

Before you give anyone's name and number to an employer as a reference, you should talk to them first to prepare them and preview what they have to say about you. You don't want them to be fumbling for words-or, even worse, trying to remember who you are-when the employer calls.

Tell them the kind of work you're trying to get and go over what they think they might say. You want them to be able to discuss some specific ways that they or their organization has benefited from your work.

Make sure your references will be specific and enthusiastic

Comments like, "Yes, Bob's a great guy. I think he'd do a fine job for you." don't really help you very much. Try to get your references to tell some stories about you following the Problem-Action-Result format, with the result ideally being a benefit that the employer wants you to provide to their organization.

If you can't get your reference to be specific or sound enthusiastic, you should think about choosing someone else.

And be sure to double check the phone numbers on your reference sheet when you print it out! You won't relieve the employer's anxieties by giving them a reference list with wrong numbers on it.