The importance of References

The past few weeks, I have been really getting into the nitty gritty of my role in Human Resources (or Employee Services) at Pinnacol Assurance. At Pinnacol, we check references once the managers want to proceed in the hiring process. We ask for 3 professional references preferably from current and past supervisors.  For those who have little or no work experience, we ask for references from someone like a professor or someone in a leadership role who knows you well. Using friends and family is not always the best idea. They already have a biased opinion towards you and probably won’t be a reliable reference. 

To my surprise, one thing I have begun to notice is that some references that we have been given lately do not even know that an applicant has used them on a reference list when we call to speak with them. Not only are they surprised and uncertain as to what to say, but they seem to be harder to reach when they are not expecting our call which makes the move toward an offer take longer.

The purpose of this blog is to help potential applicants understand that REFERENCES ARE IMPORTANT! It is important to make sure that you inform the people you intend to use for references for 2 main reasons; they will be anticipating a phone call and will respond in a timely manner, and it will help the applicant weed out potentially negative reviews about themselves. Before you even list someone as references, you should check with them to make sure that they will give you a good review. You should choose people who have known you for a while to make that reference more meaningful.

Helpful advice:

·       Always reach out to a potential reference before using them.

·       Make sure they will speak positively about you.

·       Make sure your references know your abilities and how well you work.

·       Avoid using friends and family.

·       When you lack professional work references ask a teacher, professor or advisor if you can use them.

·       Make sure you reference list is up to date with the following correct information:

• Reference’s Full Name
• Current Job Title
• Company Name
• Business Address
• Contact Information (Daytime Telephone Number; E-mail; Cell Phone Number, etc.) 
• The reference’s relationship to you/ How you know this reference

Have a few people as a backup in case your potential employer cannot reach the references you have provided.

Having a reference talk about a weakness you have is not always a bad thing. Know what your weakness is, talk about it with your reference, and address what you are doing to grow from that past experience. When you can talk about this with your reference, your reference will be able to communicate this to your potential employer in a manner that will not hinder your chances at gaining potential employment.