What will your professional references tell your prospective employer about you?

Many job seekers I run into have trouble determining who they should choose and ask to provide a professional reference for them. Part of this comes from the fact that many job seekers don’t really understand that a professional reference is not someone who verifies or evaluates your employment, rather he or she is someone who verifies your character, skills, and abilities, among other things.

When selecting a professional reference, you don’t always have to choose someone with whom you currently work (though you should have worked with them at some point in your career), but it is best to choose someone with whom you have a great deal of professional rapport, and who likes you as a person. The professional references who you choose should be individuals who respect and admire you as a person and who will answer any questions an employer or executive recruiter asks them in an honest, yet altogether positive manner. If you have had difficulties with a colleague or supervisor in the past and are concerned that they may volunteer negative information about you, don’t bother asking them to be a professional reference.

In providing details on how prospective employers can contact your professional reference, it is best to provide the telephone number of the reference and omit their email. This is because verbal references are the most effective references, and responding by telephone works MUCH better than responding by e-mail. It is much more personal, and indicates that your reference is excited to provide positive details about you. A good professional reference will respond to an employer’s inquiry with a telephone call within 24 hours (or sooner) and answer all the employers questions in a setting where he can provide his undivided attention (i.e., office door closed, uninterrupted).

While there’s usually no way you can coach your reference on what to say about you in the moment he is asked about you (and it would also be highly unprofessional to do so), you should call him to let him know something about the job you have been interviewed for and some of the specifics of the position. That way, he can get a sense of the qualifications and attributes necessary for the position and address those areas directly when he speaks with your prospective employer.

A prospective employer usually begins his professional reference inquiry by asking the individual something to the effect of "What can you tell me about [your name here]." Your reference should focus on the good qualities about you, and should have allotted enough time to complete the inquiry (usually about 10 -1 5 minutes). He will then be asked questions that include, but are not limited to your professional relationship, in what areas he feels you need improvement, your strengths, achievements, your performance under pressure, decisions making ability, etc.

Here are two examples of questions your professional references will be asked and what they will likely (or at least should) say about you:

1. Employer:"Have you noticed any areas where [your name here] needs improvement?" Answer: None that I am aware of. A good reference should never reveal any true weaknesses to a prospective employer, as that may immediately turn him from a good reference to a poor reference.
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3. Employer:"What is your opinion of [your name here]’s performance as [previous/current position]?" If they are asked to rank you on a scale of one to ten, they should rank you no lower than eight across the board. Your professional reference’s responsibility is not to evaluate you; it is to positively refer you to the job in question.

The key to knowing what your references will say about you when asked lies in your ability to pick good references who will help you out and give you a boost in your time of need. Pick ones that respect, admire, and have faith in you and your work, and they will likely provide a glowing reference about you rather than a candid evaluation.