Providing Good References is Essential for a Great Interview

Providing professional references paired with your resume will give an employer an opportunity to get a different perspective on your qualifications, skills and talents.  That said, what follows are some crucial suggestions you should follow to make sure you get the best and most out of your professional references.

Notify your references – Make sure the people you list as being references have given you their permission to do so.  First, it’s showing common courtesy.  Second (and probably more important), it gives you a feel for whether or not they’ll give you a good recommendation.  If you hear hesitation in their voice or if they just flat out refuse, it’s best to leave them off your list.

Only list professional references – Don’t be tempted to list friends and family on your reference list.  Even if you worked with them in the past, finding out the reference is related to you can leave a sour your image in front of a potential employer.

Know what your references will say about you – Unsure of what your references will say?  Don’t hesitate to find out.  Have a friend call them posing as a potential employer, or better yet, purchase a background check from IAmScreened.com who will contact your former employers as a non-biased, third party and see what they have to say.

Provide current contact information – Double if not triple check that the phone numbers and/or emails you are providing are the most up to date for your references.  It’s even not a bad idea to double-check the names as well if the references you list are women. 

Provide a description – Along with the name, title and contact information, write a one to two line description of how you know the person. 

Know your company policy – Do you know if your current employer allows its employees to give professional references?  Some employers enacted the policy of prohibiting the release of any information about former employees aside from dates and position.  Make sure it’s okay for your potential employer to contact people at your present job for references if you have them listed.

Thank your references – Did you land the job?  Well, even if you didn’t, it doesn’t hurt to send your references a thank you note.  Sending them a little “thank you” will give your references a positive impression of you and will probably make them even more agreeable to doing it again, should the need arise.

Have More Fun At Work

Aside from the paycheck, the only proven way to keep people inspired and make them enjoy their job is to allow them to have fun at work.  The following examples are ways you can interject a little fun and humor at work helping your coworkers and you enjoy the job just a little more.

Add some fun to meetings - Spice up the weekly “bored” meeting by introducing a few games.  You could try office Bingo: set up the boxes on a Bingo card to be key words used in the meeting.  Playing this game will make sure people pay attention to what’s said, while having fun trying to win. 

Have a monthly potluck  – Our office tried this with lots of success.  Pick a theme for a potluck and then have people bring food along the lines of the theme.  For instance, we had a Mexican theme and set up a taco bar in the breakroom.  Everyone had a good time sharing what kinds of food they brought and the mood was cheerful and relaxed while we ate. 

Make Friends – Get to know your coworkers.  You’ll find you can have alot of fun sharing stories and experiences with others.  Making a friend at work can also help relieve the stress of a particularly hard day.  Your family may not know what you go through at work, but you can bet your coworkers do and will be able to lend a sympathetic ear.

Employee of the Month - If you don’t already do this in your workplace, suggest it!  It’s a fun way to get your coworkers to strive for success.  Add a reward as well.  For instance, in our office, the employee of the month gets to choose where they want lunch brought in from.

Don’t Take it Personal – If your supervisor or a coworker gives you a tough time about your job performance, don’t take it personal.  Remind yourself that it’s constructive criticism and don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

Start each day with a joke or smile - Send your coworkers a funny email at the start of each day.  I had a Dilbert desk calendar that I used to pass around the office.  (Just make sure your jokes are clean & appropriate.)

Maintain a Positive Attitude - Probably the most important thing in promoting fun in the workplace is maintaining a positive attitude.  Positive mental attitudes are contagious!  Don’t believe me?  Try it out.  It’s a good idea to keep a small mirror on your desk.  Seeing yourself smile will perk you up on a bad day.  Your coworkers will feel it and pass it on as well.

A resume is a 30 second job interview.

With the unemployment rate so high, a good resume that stands out is even more key in landing a job interview.  Typically, an employer will spend about 15 to 30 seconds looking at a resume, so when creating your resume, think of it in that context.  Consider your resume to be a 30 second job interview. 

Start with a strong summary - Most employers look at this part of your resume first.  Be sure to make note of your assets, skills and qualifications.  Most job seekers falsely believe that this statement should only be on sentence.  You can actually make your summary up to four or five sentences.  Be sure to tailor your summary to the position.  For instance, you wouldn’t want to state “Seeking a position in sales” and send the resume in for an administration position. 

Your resume should only be one page – You don’t have to write a novel about each previous position you’ve held.  As noted above, employers only spend on average about 30 seconds looking at a resume, so make sure you give a concise, yet brief description of your previous jobs.  Sell your skills and qualifications.  Save the details for your in-person interview.

Make your resume visually pleasing – Categorize your resume so that headings are easy to read and everything is easy to find.  Don’t use a tiny font, type in all caps or use a font that is unprofessional and difficult to read.  You can emphasize the important parts by using bold text or bullet points.

Proofread - Not only should you absolutely proofread your resume before sending it out, send it to a few friends and have them look it over as well.  Spellcheck is good, but it’s no substitute for good, old-fashioned proofreading.  Keep in mind, spellcheck won’t find mistakes such as using “their” instead of “they’re.”

Don’t lie – Don’t even think about embellishing your resume.  Employers want to see how you’ve grown in your previous jobs, but stretching the truth will kill your chances at getting that job when the background check is run.