Resume 101: Enhancing the reference checking process
The employment meeting went extremely well. The interviewer was
impressed with your abilities; you answered the questions
superbly; and you were able to develop an excellent rapport with
the interviewer and other staff at the company.
So, now just the reference checking process, BUT, unfortunately
you did not make it to the following stage. Why not? Everything
went so well. What possibly could have gone wrong?
How often do I hear similar comments from candidates who are at
an absolute loss as to why after such great interviews, their
applications have been denied.
Have you ever thought that perhaps your reference may be letting
you down?
The general procedure a candidate follows in locating and
providing references to support their application is either to:
~ provide a list of contactable references on their resumes at
the time they send their initial application, or:
~ provide contact names after being requested to do so at the
interview without any prior consideration.
Are these two methods basically what you are currently doing in
your career campaign? If so, you need to be aware that both of
these methods can be detrimental to your job search.
Unless the application has specifically requested reference
details to be included in your initial application do not
forward or include details on your resume. As you may be
forwarding your resume in response to hundreds of job
advertisements this could result in your references receiving
numerous calls, which could become quite annoying and
ultimately, damaging to your campaign. You want to retain
control over who you provide these details to, and presenting a
reference list after you have had an opportunity to interview
with the potential employer will be far more beneficial. During
the interview you may realize that this is not the position you
originally thought it was, or realize that your personal values
and beliefs would be challenged if you were to become employed
with the organization, and therefore there is no real need to
provide reference contact details. Your references will not be
unnecessarily contacted, affording their valuable time and
energy for a position that you are not interested in.
Let