The Reference Can Make or Break You
/I’m back y’all! I took a mini vacation to turn 31 and travel about but we’re back and so are the regular blog posts!
The New Year is coming up and you might be thinking about a new role or you’re interviewing for a new role. Either way, you’re likely going to need references. Picking references is super important- they can make or break you getting the role. Here are some tips about picking and then prepping your references.
A peer, a manager and a direct report (if you’re a manager). Make sure you have one of each in your back pocket at all times. It’s hard to tell which reference the company will need from the outset so make sure you have one of each.
Who to pick? Obviously, you want to pick someone who you’ve had a positive experience with. The ideal reference also has intimate knowledge with your work, workstyle and can speak to one of your stories from the previous post.
Let them know you’re listing them. Before you give the name and contact information of your reference to who you’re interviewing with, ask them if it’s okay. This gives them the option to opt out if they feel like they can’t give you a positive reference (which is great if you have the opposite impression). You definitely do not want someone being blindsided to give an opinion on you because no one likes being blindsided. Also, it makes you look bad in their eyes and well, you want them to talk about how you’re great!
Give them talking points! At this point in the interview process, you know what kind of role it is, what the expectations of you are and where they’ve probed a lot. All of these data points are going to be key for your reference. Prime your reference on exactly what you want them to speak to. Give them the bullet points and/or an area you want them to focus (Ex: The company asked me a lot of questions about my problem solving ability. I think I demonstrated these skills when we worked on X together, so if you could focus your comments there, that would be helpful).
Now this approach works best when the interviewer is only talking to people you recommend. Sometimes, interviewers go and talk to people you didn’t recommend. They find usually find these people through LinkedIn. That’s why it’s support important to in general, be a really good worker, co-worker etc. You literally never know if this person will get called upon so deliver your results, help others and ultimately, be a pleasure to work with!
