{"id":455,"date":"2010-03-05T17:32:03","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T22:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/?p=455"},"modified":"2014-08-13T15:34:33","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T15:34:33","slug":"five-reference-tips-for-job-search-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/five-reference-tips-for-job-search-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Five reference tips for job search success!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>After I completed my first professional job search, I likened the experience to taking an additional course in graduate school.\u00a0 You have intense amounts of research to do, lots of information and websites to read, a strong need for lots of pens and highlighters, and you have to some how make sense and digest all of what you are gaining through your search.\u00a0 Now that I have been through several more searches, there\u2019s a few things I\u2019ve learned along the way and want to offer on to other searchers.<\/p>\n

Often times what I find as both a reference for others and a job seeker for my references is that we don\u2019t provide enough information or utilize our references enough to make our search go even more positively.\u00a0 Below you will find just a few tips and tricks to help utilize one branch of your search process even more efficiently and effectively.<\/p>\n

1) <\/strong>Make sure your reference is a positive<\/span> reference, and is available to you\/your search.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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One of the first pieces of advice I was ever given when I entered into my very first search many moons ago was to make sure that the people you are asking to be a reference will agree to be positive references.\u00a0 A reference can be your supervisor, a professor, or a mentor that worked with you during an internship.\u00a0 But, just because you think you did a great job for them doesn\u2019t mean that they will necessarily speak glowingly of you in the important phone call.\u00a0 A few years ago I asked someone to be a reference for me and I followed their \u201cyes\u201d up with a \u201ccan you agree to be a positive reference for me?\u201d and the answer I got was \u201cno\u201d.\u00a0 The two good things that came from that were: 1) An opportunity for me to talk openly and honestly with this person about conflicts and unresolved issues (and miscommunication) that we had in the past and resolve them and 2) An understanding that just because someone is above you or around you in a flowchart doesn\u2019t mean they would be your best spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Above all else, make sure when you ask someone (yes, you have to ask\u2026.don\u2019t assume) to be a reference, make sure it is positive.\u00a0 In fact, be brave and ask them if they would share some of the things they would say about you just so you know!\u00a0 Those positive strokes and things they would highlight about you can often times be good ammunition and examples to use in your initial interviews for a position.<\/p>\n

Also, make sure when you are confirming a reference, be sure that they can be committed and available through your entire search.\u00a0 I served as a mentor to a staff member in the past who found out that they were not progressing in a university’s process because one of their references would not return phone calls and emails and therefore their application became incomplete.\u00a0 Be sure you have appropriate contact information for your reference and make sure they know that this process could last several months to several years for you!<\/p>\n

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2) <\/strong>Send regular updates to your references to keep them updated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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One of the tools that I use to keep my own group of references \u201cin the know\u201d about my current search is by sending them periodic emails with updates.\u00a0 In my last search, I had applied to a wide breadth of positions and universities, so I created a document that listed a lot of information for my references to utilize in a \u201cquick call\u201d manner.\u00a0 In this document, I:<\/p>\n